 On the eve of the presidential inauguration, US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last night embraced an issue some pundits say helped seal a second term for George W. Bush: acceptance of the role of faith in addressing social ills. In a speech at a fund-raising dinner for a Boston-based organization that promotes faith-based solutions to social problems, Clinton said there has been a "false division" between faith-based approaches to social problems and respect for the separation of church of state. "There is no contradiction between support for faith-based initiatives and upholding our constitutional principles," said Clinton, a New York Democrat who often is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008.
Addressing a crowd of more than 500, including many religious leaders, at Boston's Fairmont Copley Plaza, Clinton invoked God more than half a dozen times, at one point declaring, "I've always been a praying person." | "Please God, don't let me get caught." |
She said there must be room for religious people to "live out their faith in the public square." | Unless, of course, you're a Republician |
The issue of faith in politics has been at the center of debate following the presidential election, with some arguing that Bush's strong identification with religious values was a key to his victory over Senator John F. Kerry. | That and the fact that Kerry had no values of his own. |
The dinner was a fund-raiser for the National TenPoint Leadership Foundation and the Dorchester-based Ella J. Baker House. Both youth outreach programs are directed by the Rev. Eugene F. Rivers 3d, a leader of the clergy-based efforts to stem youth violence in Boston in the 1990s that has become a national model for community-police partnerships. | A black minister, of course. That makes it safe for the Hildabeast to support him. |
The minister has often criticized established black leaders and liberal politicians, saying they have failed to deal honestly with the problems of youth violence. Rivers said he hoped Clinton's appearance last night would build broader support for an issue on which some Democrats have been skittish. "She is in a position to articulate a progressive vision around this issue of faith and values," Rivers said. "The Clintons, on faith-based solutions to Bill's personel problems, have always been way ahead of the curve," said Rivers, citing President Clinton's running to the closest black church when he got caught with his pants down support of a 1996 law banning the federal government from discriminating against religious organizations seeking funding available to groups delivering social services. | It's OK to do that when you're a Democratic president. |
In her speech, Clinton praised the efforts of Rivers and others working to curb youth violence, saying those of faith are often most willing to walk the streets of the country's most dangerous neighborhoods to try to reach young people. Where others "see trouble," she said, Rivers and faith-based soldiers "see God's work right in front of them." |