As President Bush has struggled to regain his political footing since the recent elections, Republicans and Democrats alike are busily trying to replace him.

With more than a dozen candidates, party loyalists have a smorgasbord from which to choose. The most important part of the political context for the campaign is the black hole created by President Bush's unpopularity. Though he is in the final stages of his term, his presidency is still defining the environment.

Bush's most obvious political foundation is religious voters. Republican candidates are shaping their images to make those voters comfortable. Newt Gingrich goes on Focus on the Family to discuss his extra-marital affair in the 1990s; Mitt Romney reaches out to evangelicals who are skittish about his Mormonism; John McCain tries to reboot his relationships with the religious right by speaking at Liberty's graduation; Mike Huckabee, an ordained minister seeks to be like Bush, but too much so; Rudy Giuliani focuses on appointing conservative judges even though he is pro-choice.

Democrats continue to heap scorn on Bush, though they sense Bush's problems now provide them with the opportunity to control the entire federal government in 2008. In order to do that, they must appeal to moderates and dissatisfied Republicans.

This is where Howard Dean, he of the "I Have a Scream Speech" in Iowa, 2004, enters the story. Dean became chair of the Democratic National Committee, and one of his first emphases was to make the party competitive in all 50 states. In 2006, the strategy began to bear fruit when Democrats picked up House seats in places like North Carolina, governors mansions in Ohio and Tennessee, and Senate seats in Virginia and Missouri.

Dean understands, however, that in order for the party to be competitive, it must reach out to religious voters. However one thinks of America, any description of it that does not include religion is inadequate. America is a nation of many faiths and many faithful. The Democratic Party's presidential nominees are now cognizant of this.

John Edwards discusses what Jesus would think of American consumerism (though he recently built a 20,000 sq. ft. house!); Hillary Clinton has developed a southern drawl for her church speeches; Barack Obama makes faith (in the mold of Jim Wallis and Tony Compolo) the centerpiece of his campaign.

If anyone worried (or hoped) that with the end of Bush's term, religion would find itself marginalized, the presidential nomination process suggests otherwise. Both parties have made faith a factor for 2008.