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TechnoratiMiller cited progress along those lines — including on abortion. His other priorities — poverty, global warming — also reflect a widening evangelical agenda that might benefit Democrats, if not in large numbers in November then in future elections. Miller also said he'd leave the party if some Democrats keep mocking people of faith.
"I'd like to see Obama address that — say that voice is no longer welcome," he said.
Others invited to take part in the convention — including Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America — make clear their participation isn't an endorsement.
Even so, it's significant Weinreb was invited to deliver a keynote address at the interfaith service. He sides with Republicans — and apart from most Jewish leaders — in support of government assistance, such as tax credits, for parents who want to put their children in private schools.
Weinreb did not pass up an opportunity to speak at the service "for freedom of choice in education" — and he later credited Democratic officials for putting no restrictions on what speakers could say.
That freedom also was evident when Bishop Charles Blake, head of the 6 million-member Church of God in Christ, spoke of "disregard for the lives of the unborn." Blake, who called himself a pro-life Democrat, challenged Obama to adopt policies to reduce abortions and chided Republicans for not caring about "those who have been born."
"Are we being used?" Weinreb said of faith leaders at the convention. "I certainly didn't feel used. Obviously, politics is politics. I don't want to be naive. I also don't want to be cynical."
Critics of the Democrats are skeptical. Tom Minnery, a senior vice president with the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, said Democratic voting records don't back up the religious rhetoric.
"The party wants the voters," said Minnery, who attended Tuesday's faith caucus. "But not the values."
But Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, after speaking at a luncheon hosted by the nonpartisan Faith and Politics Institute, insisted that the party's outreach to faith communities is sincere, and that voices will be heard.
"The majority of our party people, they are people of faith," he said. "When we get elected, we don't check our faith at the door. We may not wear it on our sleeve."
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