Religion and politics go hand-in-hand in 2008 US presidential campaign

This Associated Press article in the International Herald Tribune says

Indeed, seven years after George W. Bush won the presidency in part with a direct appeal to conservative religious voters — even saying during a debate that Jesus Christ was his favorite philosopher — the personal faith of candidates for the 2008 election has become a very public part of the presidential campaign.

I didn't remember it quite that way. I remembered George W. Bush being asked "Who is your favorite political philosopher?" So did, among others, the editors of the Baptist Standard and Douglas Groothuis.

But is that what he was asked? Or was he asked what political philosopher he most identified with? Gary Bauer remembers that.

But is that what he was asked? Stephen Buttry of the Des Moines Register reported at the time that

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, a Methodist who leads the Republican race in opinion polls and fund-raising, gave the most personal testimony in Monday's debate. Each candidate was asked what "political philosopher or thinker" he identified with most. (In an interview Tuesday morning with Des Moines Register reporters and editors, Bush said he understood the question to be, "Who's had the most influence on your life?")

A reasonable interpretation of what thinker he most identified with.

Bush, the third candidate to answer in the debate, said, "Christ, because he changed my heart."

(via Daniel Pulliam at Get Religion)

P.S. From that same election, I cannot see any indication that Al Gore's admiration for Maurice Merleau-Ponty extended to Humanism and Terror.