Yesterday, a nationwide interfaith campaign to increase the emphasis on poverty in the '08 election kicked off:

Faith leaders from 21 national organizations, led by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Catholic Charities USA, have joined forces to spend a week urging local, state and national politicians to make anti-poverty efforts a top priority.

Called "Fighting Poverty with Faith: A Week of Action," the grass-roots effort includes a range of activities, from a poverty symposium in Nashville, Tenn., to a letter-writing campaign in Rhode Island. The week culminates with a Sept. 16 gathering on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

With the McCain and Obama campaigns heading into the final two months before Election Day, Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said the interfaith coalition can "hold the candidates responsible" for coming up with strategies to help the 37 million Americans who live below the federal poverty line.

To be fair, both party platforms address domestic poverty (albeit with rather different approaches and degrees of emphasis). But it's hard to argue that it's received due attention. Smart, dedicated people in the interfaith advocacy world have put a tremendous amount of effort into putting poverty back on the agenda. Their energy, and the faith-driven dedication of religious communities across the country, can make the difference. Poverty is a moral issue, and a far more important topic than how many houses John McCain has or whether Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig.