The American Spectator

p> RELIGIOUS CONSIDERATIONS br> While it appears that Sen. John McCain has solidified support from evangelical Christian leaders, how solid that support is remains in doubt, particularly given the amount of time and energy Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign have dedicated to speaking to conservative religious leaders. /p>

According to members of the conservative Arlington Group, which is made of leaders of some of the largest and most influential faith-based groups in the country and which withheld its endorsement for President during the Republican and Democrat primary seasons, Obama has been targeting members for some time, and some leaders have been coming away impressed.

“[Obama] speaks our language. He seems more comfortable with his faith. Jesus’ name rolls off his tongue, as do some of the phrases people of faith tend to use in these meetings,” says an Arlington Group staffer with knowledge of the meetings. “The same cannot be said of McCain. The only Republican who has come close to being this impressive in private meetings was Mitt Romney, but you never heard our membership say they thought Romney was an acceptable choice. You are hearing that from some of our membership when Obama’s name is mentioned. It’s surreal.”

That’s not to say that McCain hasn’t made strides of late. He has intentionally not sought very public support from evangelical leaders in an attempt to build support among independents, who aren’t likely to go for someone openly aligned with the hard right. Instead, McCain has smartly used surrogates such as Sen. Sam Brownback, a Catholic convert, and former Sen. Fred Thompson, who gave the keynote at the National Right to Life convention last week, to build support for his candidacy among the evangelicals who make up the conservative base in the GOP.

p> OTHERWISE ENGAGED br> Florida Gov. Charlie Crist