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Keeping faith, courting conservatives
President Barack Obama's willingness to keep Bush-era policies on government-backed religious charities opposed by many liberals is helping to woo traditionally Republican evangelical leaders who can influence key blocs of voters.
The approach, according to conservative leaders and liberal critics alike, is part of a broader strategy by Obama and fellow Democrats to regain credibility with centrist and conservative voters who tend to be more religious and have supported the GOP in recent polls and elections.
Obama has left in place a contentious Bush policy permitting charities that receive federal aid to hire employees based on their religious beliefs"a policy that civil-liberties groups consider unconstitutional and that candidate Obama had criticized.