Religious political hypocrisy

[lukec]

Yes- is Barack actually as faithful as he claims to be? Recently I was reading an interview with him and I was actually shocked (since I didn't really read too much about his policies or beliefs, being from Canada) to see how blatantly "Christian" his responses were. For example:

Warren: You've made no secrets about your faith in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to you to trust in Christ, and what does that mean to you on a daily basis?

Obama: As a starting point, it means that I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through Him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. I know that I don't walk alone, and I know that if I can get myself out of the way, that I can maybe carry out, in some small way, what He intends. And it means that those sins that I have on a fairly regular basis hopefully will be washed away.
But what it also means is a sense of obligation to embrace- not just with words but through deeds- the expectations that God has for us. And that means thinking about the least of these. It means acting justly, and loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. And trying to apply those lessons on a daily basis, knowing that you are going to fall a little bit short each day, and being able to take note and say, "Well that didn't quite work out the way I think it should have, but maybe I can get a little better."
It gives me the confidence to try things, including things like running for president, where you are going to screw up once in a while.

Barack strikes me as rather intelligent, and so I have to wonder, definitely, exactly how much is real belief and how much is a show for the many religious americans? It seems to me, though, that if you take out the bits about god from that following quote, he's really just explaining a point of view that I myself could easily understand/follow- basically, try your hardest to do your best...

But the important point being brought up here, is could Barack have gotten elected at all, or even been in the running, were he an open Atheist? I doubt it.