As the race for the US White House gathers pace, Democrat candidates are taking a lead from Republicans on religion in an effort to win over Christian voters.It is rare to hear Democratic presidential candidates discussing religion and politics so openly, so it was a surprise to hear Hillary Clinton candidly admitting her faith in God helped her survive the anguish over her husband's infidelity.
Senator Clinton and the other two leading Democratic candidates have participated in a rare televised forum on faith and values organised by a Christian ministry called Sojourners.
"I'm not sure I would've got through it without my faith," she told the forum.
"I am very grateful that I had a grounding in faith that gave me the courage and the strength to do what I thought was right, regardless of what the world thought, and that's all one can expect or hope for."
Although admitting she found it difficult to talk openly about her faith, Senator Clinton did not dodge questions from the CNN moderator.
"What do you ask God for?" the moderator asked.
"Well, it depends upon the time of day," she replied. "Sometimes I say, 'Oh Lord, why can't you help me lose weight?'"
Republicans, particularly President Bush, have often seemed more comfortable talking about faith and it seems to have paid off.
A national exit poll after the last presidential election found 59 per cent of Protestants and 52 per cent of Catholics voted for Mr Bush, along with 78 per cent of Evangelicals and 61 per cent of people who go to church weekly.
Confessions
The Democratic faith and values forum at times had the feeling of a live television confessional.
Former senator John Edwards was asked to name the biggest sin he had committed.
"I'd have a very hard time telling you one thing," he said.
But Mr Edwards said he prayed daily.
"I strayed away from the Lord for a period of time and then came back in my adulthood, and my faith came roaring back during some crises that my own family was faced with," he said.
John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have all hired religious outreach advisers and set up religious outreach websites.
When Senator Obama was asked if God was on the side of US troops in Iraq, in a war he has always opposed, he had this reply:
"I always remember Abraham Lincoln when, during the Civil War, he said, 'We shouldn't be asking whose side God is on but whether we're on his side'," Senator Obama said.
"I think that's the question that all of us have to ask ourselves during any battle that's taking place, whether it's political or military."
'New Conversation'
But Sojourners chief executive Reverend Jim Wallis says the era of the religious right is over.
"A new conversation has begun. It'll be a better conversation in 2008 than it was in 2004," he said.
"God is not a Republican or a Democrat and people of faith shouldn't be in any party's political pocket."
Reverend Rob Schenk, the founder of conservative Christian outreach Faith and Action, says Rev Wallis is being hypocritical.
"The Sojourners group last night and CNN conspired to create a fictional class of Christians, the so-called liberal evangelicals, but that's an oxymoron. It's self-contradictory," he said.
But religious conservatives may be dismayed by their presidential choices this time around.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is a Catholic who says while he is personally opposed to abortion, women should be able to choose for themselves. Like his rival, John McCain, he has been divorced and neither man regularly discusses his faith.
As for another top Republican contender, Mitt Romney, his Mormon faith is making some voters uneasy.
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