Given all God-o-Meter has read about Hillary’s religious life–is there a politician besides George W. Bush whose piety has been better documented?–it was understandably dumbstruck by a recent poll showing that she’s seen as the least religious presidential frontrunner. Today, though, Hillary’s religious image got some burnishing. Writing in his regular Washington Post slot, former Bush speechwriter and evangelical intellectual Michael Gerson cites a new spiritual biography of Hillary that calls her “the most religious Democrat since Jimmy Carter.” And Gerson seems to concur, prompting God-o-Meter to ask: could Hillary have bought a better endorsement of her religious bona fides? Sure, Gerson takes the expected whacks at Hillary’s pro-choice record. But he whacks Rudy Giuliani harder. Should the pro-choice Rudy land the GOP nomination and neutralize the abortion issue, he writes, religious voters could tilt toward Hillary because of her faith-based arguments for such liberal causes as helping the poor.

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