Obama's 10 Most Important Faith Leaders
Progressive evangelical Jim Wallis has been a political oddity ever since he landed in Washington more than 35 years ago. Lobbying for poverty relief and against war, Wallis was at odds with Christian right leaders who claimed to speak for evangelical America. His politics lined up with the Democrats, but the party had little use for evangelical pastors. As younger evangelicals have branched out beyond hot-button issues and Democrats have begun wooing born-again Christians, however, Wallis is suddenly very much in demand. "I've been 40 years in the wilderness, and now it's time to come out," he says. The White House consults Wallis, a friend of the president's since Obama's Illinois legislature days, on a range of issues, but most intensively on poverty relief.
In an administration that keeps in touch with hundreds of faith leaders, who do you think are the most important?