Inside Obama's Faith and Values Team -- Updated

(Update: An Obama aide e-mails: "-We never have partisan letters read inside of churches.  The national campaign didn't sanction or even know about this guy's email or the letter that was sent out.  Anything communicated inside of churches is explicitly non-partisan.")'

Here's a look at how Barack Obama's political team is organizing around churches -- or, if you're a Republican, how the campaign is coming close to the legal line separating church and state. An e-mail from Clay Middleton, Obama's South Carolina Political Director, and obtained by this column advises recipients to "see the attached announcement" and literature from Obama's Faith, Family and Values Team. He writes: "Our field organizers, faith community partners, and others will be reading this announcement EVERY SUNDAY and sharing the literature with others. "
 

From: "Clay Middleton" <>
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:42:55 -0500
To: [60 e-mail addresses redacted]
Subject: Church Announcement
Democratic Elected Officials-
 
Please see the attached announcement and Senator Obama's Faith, Family, and Values literature.

Our field organizers, faith community partners, and others will be reading this announcement EVERY SUNDAY and sharing the literature with others.
 
I ask that you share this information with othes and encourage those in your respected communities to VOTE ABSENTEE.
 
Clay Middleton
South Carolina Political Director
Obama for America
(803) 315-XXXX
www.barackobama.com <http://www.barackobama.com/>
 

The letter Middleton attaches is from S,C. Congressman James Clyburn.

Dear Friends:

 One of the Leadership positions I hold in the United States Congress is Chair of the House Democrats Faith Working Group.  In this capacity I have traveled the country extensively and visited many congregations.  I am often asked about the role in government and politics for people of faith.  I often respond by sharing one of my life's most memorable moments.

My father was a fundamentalist minister, and when I left home to attend college, I fully expected to further my education in the seminary.   On the day I shared with him my decision not to follow him into the ministry, he told me he felt that, "the world would much rather see a sermon than to hear one."

I have never forgotten that anxious moment and have accepted his words as a mantra by which to live and serve.  I truly believe that people of faith, especially those of us who are elected officials, are mandated to conduct ourselves and make policies that fulfill the scriptures.  We are required to care for "widows and orphans" and provide for the "least among us."  No more, and certainly no less, should be expected of our Presidential candidates.  We must require more than rhetoric, photo-ops and high-sounding platitudes.  We must make certain that their deeds match their words, and their promises square with their records.  In short, have their lives been good sermons.

When we listen to the rhetoric and look at the records, it is not even close.  Barack Obama has earned our votes and deserves our support for President of the United States.  I ask you to join me and millions of faith voters all across our great land in active and tireless support of Barack Obama.   

With kind regards and Godspeed I remain,

             Sincerely,
     

James E. Clyburn

Pastors who read this letter from their pulpit could violate the church's tax exempt status.and could be subject to sanction; if the letter is read by a church member during a common announcement time, its legality is less clear.   Distributing the accompanying literature, which includes talking points about Obama's life and values, is OK under the law, provided that it's not the pastor doing the passing out, and that if a McCain campaign volunteer wants to hand out fliers, he or she can do so as well. The law is fairly strict, and conservative and lberal clergy have fallen afoul of it and worked to change it for decades. The Clyburn letter was composed under the auspices of the coordinated campaign of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

Another issue: Middletown's e-mail was sent to recipients with South Carolina state and county government addresses; ate they supposed to do something with the literature?