Obama's 10 Most Important Faith Leaders
Longtime Washington operator David Saperstein has a penchant for strange-bedfellow alliances. He partnered with conservative evangelicals—whom he disagrees with on abortion and gay marriage—to help pass the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act. A fierce critic of George W. Bush's faith-based office, he was nevertheless among the first members of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. That also makes him a key liaison between the White House and American Jews, many of whom overcame doubts about candidate Obama to support him in overwhelming numbers last November. Saperstein says Obama's faith-based office is more committed to respecting church/state separation than Bush's was. Still, he has criticized Obama's refusal to prohibit religious groups from hiring only like-minded believers with federal dollars.
In an administration that keeps in touch with hundreds of faith leaders, who do you think are the most important?