Contact: Tim Morgan, Christianity Today, 630-260-6200 ext 4279, tmorgan@christianitytoday.com

CAROL STREAM, Ill., Oct. 7 /Christian Newswire/ -- Christianity Today magazine explores how evangelicals will vote in this year's presidential election in two articles that take a look at how evangelicals view both presidential candidates.

Through in-depth interviews with leading evangelicals, including Ron Sider, Richard Cizik, Kirbyjon Caldwell, Jim Wallis, Tom Minnery, and Tony Campolo, author John W. Kennedy looks at why many evangelicals are taking notice of Barack Obama despite his liberal record.

Kennedy says Obama has gained evangelicals' attention through his ability to speak "the language of faith comfortably" and his willingness to speak openly about his religious views, while John McCain has stayed relatively silent. But "whether evangelical voters can reconcile Obama's talk with his walk remains an open question," says Kennedy.

The rest of this article is available here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/october/18.26.html

Tony Carnes follows John McCain's historically rocky relationship with evangelicals and the effect his "commitment to spiritual privacy" will have on his campaign. McCain has had a difficult time convincing evangelical leaders to endorse him, and until he named Sarah Palin as his running mate, many evangelical voters have remained wary.

"This summer, more voters identified as evangelicals (12 percent) were undecided than they were at the same time in the 2004 presidential campaign... but picking Palin has injected fresh enthusiasm," said Tony Carnes.

In July, 60 evangelical leaders officially announced their support for McCain, but the Southern Baptist Conventions Richard Land still believes that McCain is "not the first choice, not the second choice, not even the third choice of many evangelicals."

Despite evangelicals' skepticism, their fear of Obama winning may bring them to McCain's side in the end. One young evangelical told Christianity Today magazine editors, "This election will be voting against Obama, not for McCain."

The rest of this article is available here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/october/19.32.html

Christianity Today, the world's leading religious current issues publication covering the people, events, and ideas that shape the evangelical movement, was founded by Billy Graham in 1956. Website: http://christianitytoday.com/ct.