Amy Sullivan, the editor of Washington Monthly and fabulous inaugural alumna of Faith in Public Live, has a piece posted on Slate that's worth a read. "Not God's Party: A new poll shows Democrats are losing (more) religious voters." As always, she provides sharp analysis of the religion and politics scene, with a sense of perspective that's always appreciated.

The piece has a great ending, quoted below, but the tone of the poll analysis seems off. From the headline, Sullivan focuses on continued Democratic weakness (which is actually just a leveling that remained within the margin of error from earlier polls), and doesn't give nearly enough attention to the fact that the Republican party suffered an even bigger hit. This Republican slippage combined with steady numbers for Dems is the real story of the poll. It just may be that the unholy alliances between Religious Right leaders and GOP officials who have no real interest in delivering victories for the Religious Right is finally being unravelled by years of broken promises. It's not even mentioned that the percentage of the population that sees the Dems as unfriendly to religion is totally level at 20% since 2005. The headline writers at Slate must have missed that.

A great quote below. Note her emphasis on state and local campaigns. That's exactly what we've found through our work with groups across the country. Check our Best Practices page and Mapping Faith resource to see just how many of these groups there are in your community.

The DNC should ramp up that search. But the party's leaders also should remain calm. The Democrats' most productive activities on the religion front have taken place at the state level and in local campaigns. This work may not bear fruit nationally for a few years, but it's important to hang in there and keep funding it. Democrats also need to avoid the temptation to play preacher: One cringe-inducing "Praise Jeeeeezus!" from Howard Dean spoils the quiet faith of Democrats like Tim Kaine and Jennifer Granholm and Barack Obama. And they should shout from the mountaintops about Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid's plan to reduce abortion rates, talk to every evangelical who will listen about tackling global warming, and re-embrace the concept of the common good that once united religious and political progressives. Democrats, take those lights out from under your bushels.