Religious right to lose influence no matter who next governor is

[Synnical]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2006/10/29/m1a_GOV_FAITH_1029.html

By S.V. Date

Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

Sunday, October 29, 2006

LAUDERHILL — Democrat Jim Davis speaks about getting the government out of religion. Republican Charlie Crist calls religion a private matter.

Both candidates for governor have staked out positions on social issues contrary to the wishes of many Christian conservatives -- and to those taken by Gov. Jeb Bush, who has been a champion of their causes, from vouchers for religious schools to programs opposing abortions.


"We're going to experience a big shift," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala and a Christian conservative leader in the Florida Legislature. "We're going to have a more pliable governor ... who will be less positional about the issues that I care about."

Davis, an Episcopalian, disagrees that he is pliable, and says in speeches that his is a firm stand on the idea that church and state should remain separate.

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And Crist, the son of a Greek Orthodox father and a Methodist mother, said that Floridians would "rarely" see the public pronouncements of his faith that have been common from Bush.

"I have a deep faith in God, but it's not something I've ever worn on my sleeve," he said. "To me, it's a private thing, and maybe that's the way it is for most people."