Religious left rallies for Democrats

Ohio’s progressive religious leaders, who largely sat out the 2004 presidential election, have mobilized now to counter the political clout of their conservative and evangelical brethren.

“We had been silent too long,” said the Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior pastor at First Church in Columbus, who helped found We Believe Ohio, a multidenominational organization that promotes social justice and other progressive causes.

The new activism is part of a wider effort by Democrats to strengthen their voter turnout operation and broaden its reach since the bitter 2004 loss to President Bush that was caused, in part, by the mobilization of conservative religious leaders in the Buckeye State.

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