Bill Clinton may have been the nation’s first black president–and a Baptist, to boot–but his wife ain’t attempting anything like this to reach churchgoing African Americans. God-o-Meter has just learned Barack Obama’s campaign is staging a three-day tour gospel music tour to cap its “40 Days of Faith and Family” drive in South Carolina. The tour is called “Embrace the Change.” More from the Obama campaign:

Gospel stars include Grammy Award winners Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Stellar Award winner Byron Cage, Dove Award winner Fred Hammond and the world’s most famous gospel quartet the Mighty Clouds of Joy, among others. The tour will visit Charleston, Greenwood and Columbia, South Carolina. Holly Davis Carter and her company, Relevé Entertainment, have spearheaded the creation of the events.
“This is another example of how Barack Obama is defying conventional wisdom about how politics is done and giving new meaning to meeting people at the grassroots level,” National Religious Affairs Director Joshua DuBois said. “This concert tour is going to bring new people into the political process and engage people of faith in an unprecedented way.”

If there’s another candidate on either ticket doing more to directly organize churches and religious communities, God-o-Meter would like to know about it.

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