You’d think that I’d be more than happy that Obama and Bush understood that the government can’t solve the problems of our society alone and need the help of faith-based groups (and I am) and when Bush first purposed this program, I was for it but then I started thinking what that money would do to those churches and realized it was probably going to be a corrupting influence. The congregations would no longer need to support their own ministries, why not just use the government’s money? Congregations should support the work of the church, not allow the state to do it. It’s not the job of the state to fund our ministries. And if the government gives you money, they call the shots. They can put any kind of conditions on that money and if you’re addicted to it, you’ll dance to their tune. It’s a little too much blending of church and state:

“The challenges we face today, from putting people back to work to improving our schools, from saving our planet to combating HIV/AIDS to ending genocide, are simply too big for government to solve alone,” Obama planned to say in a speech later in the day, according to a text of the speech obtained by The Associated Press. “We need all hands on deck.”
[…]
“Because they’re so close to the people, they’re well-placed to offer help,” he was to say.

So, for all the Obamanites out there who hated Bush’s faith-based programs, do you like them better now that they’re coming from your guy?
Obama is obviously trying to connect with the Evangelical voter who is up for grabs this election cycle. McCain won’t talk about faith and issues that effect Evangelical voters but Obama will. And since many Evangelicals see abortion as less of a priority (I guess they find the murder of 40 million babies acceptable), then they will have no problem switching to Obama.
The deck is really stacked against the Republicans this year with a candidate who will not talk about faith and the issues that people of faith want to talk about (the poor, healthcare, etc.), Obama has the field all to himself. And since McCain’s pro-life record is a little weak, he’s not even getting the support of the Evangelicals who still care about abortion. It’s a perfect storm for Obama, he is blessed to be the opponent of such a weak presidential candidate who doesn’t have the support of his base. Too bad he’s such an incredibly weak candidate on foreign policy and he’s been so open about promising to raise taxes (with all his new taxes the “rich” will be paying 60% of their income in taxes), it would have been a cake walk for him. Now, he’ll have to work a little harder to overcome those deficiencies.