Open Thread

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Does the Obamessiah know his Bible?

As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

Dobson and [Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family] accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament. "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said. "... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Is this an important campaign issue or a non-starter? Aren't most evangelicals likely to vote for McCain anyway, and this discussion is nothing but a distraction? Or is this something that can hurt Obama in the months to come?