President Barack Obama used today’s 60th Annual National Prayer Breakfast to wrap his progressive policies and his outreach to African-American voters in a religious pitch.
“The Bible teaches us to ‘be doers of the word and not merely hearers,’” Obama said, while citing federal government support for college tuition, mortgages, healthcare and food.
“We’re required to have a living, breathing, active faith in our own lives … and to live the truth of our faith not just with words, but with deeds,” he said, adding that if he were to “give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.”
His pitch was partly aimed at African-American voters, who comprise one of the most religious segments of Democratic coalition, strongly support wealth-transfer programs, and comprise roughly one-quarter of the Democratic Party’s base.
Wednesday’s speech came one day after the Feb. 1 announcement of a new campaign group, African Americans for Obama, which is designed to boost turnout among black voters.
The bloc is vital to Obama, mostly because its high turnout and near-monolithic support for the president gave him a winning edge in several critical states, including North Carolina and Virginia.
But that community has been hard-hit during Obama’s presidency, and several African-American leaders predict turnout will sink this November. Less than half of African-American men between 16 and 30 have full-time jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even after discounting full-time students and people in jail.
In a short video posted on his campaign website, Obama cited racial solidarity as a reason for African-Americans to support him. Previous generations of African-Americans “made it possible for someone like me to be here today. … We are greater together than we can ever be on our own,” he said.
Obama urged African-Americans to aid his campaign “in your faith community, at work or at school, and of course, in your voting booth on election day.”
He also urged African-Americans to attend training sessions at historically black colleges and universities, or to train as “Congregation Captains.”
“Congregation captains will take the lead on educating congregations about the importance of participating in this campaign and how to get involved,” according to Obama’s campaign website. “You’ll reach out to key church members and mobilize your personal networks with house parties and other outreach activities, as well as provide assistance in conducting voter registration drives.”
Obama’s prayer-meeting pitch contained several elements similar to his address last year, when he declared that the example of Martin Luther King and other 1960s leaders led him into politics.
Because of them, Obama said in 2011, he signed “up as community organizer for a group of churches on the south side of Chicago. … [There] I came to know Jesus Christ and embrace him as my lord and savior.”
Obama did not mention Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his controversial Chicago pastor for 20 years, in today’s speech or last year’s speech. For example, Wright sermonized to his African-American congregation that “white folks’ greed runs a world in need,” according to Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope.”
He did not mention his escalating fight with the Catholic Church and other religious groups that has been caused by his efforts to impose federal mandates on religious groups’ employment and compensation practices.
Nor did he mention his repeated proposals to cut the tax break for charitable donations that support many religious groups.
However, Obama also made sure to mention Islam, saying Jesus Christ’s teachings “mirror … the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others.” For at least two years, administration officials have cooperated with the leaders of fundamentalist Islamic groups in the United States.
Obama’s speech did not include any obvious references to Hispanic Americans, who are also religious and a critical piece of the party’s base. He did not mention immigration issues, or Hispanic unemployment following the collapse of the construction sector, but did include a brief passage about respect.
That’s significant, because Democrats and Hispanic leaders — as well as some GOP business-oriented leaders — say mainstream criticism of the nation’s immigration policy insults the growing U.S. Hispanic population.
“It is our hope that people of goodwill can pursue their values and common ground and the common good as best they know how, with respect for each other,” Obama said. “I have to say that sometimes we talk about respect, but we don’t act with respect towards each other during the course of these debates.”
Obama ended his speech by praising himself while describing a meeting with the Rev. Franklin Graham, the famous evangelist preacher.
“Before I left, Reverend Graham started praying for me, as he had prayed for so many Presidents before me. And when he finished praying, I felt the urge to pray for him. … The fact that I would ever be on top of a mountain, saying a prayer for Billy Graham — a man whose faith had changed the world and that had sustained him through triumphs and tragedies, and movements and milestones — that simple fact humbled me to my core.”