Altar Call

My latest academic study is in Public Relations Review. Here is the citation:

Kaylor, B. T. (2011). Altar call: The Democratic Party’s religious rhetoric as image repair discourse. Public Relations Review, 37, 250-256.

Here is the abstract for the piece:

In 2004, Senator Barack Obama declared, "We worship a mighty God in the blue states." During the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, Obama and other Democratic candidates attempted to prove that Republicans do not have a monopoly on religious campaign rhetoric by invoking God, quoting scriptures, and attending forums on faith. These efforts to find political salvation can be seen as an attempt at apologia by Democrats who defended their Party from a perception of being godless or anti-religion. This study analyzes the religious-political rhetoric of the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential candidates in order to evaluate and critique the various strategies used to repair the Party's image on religious matters.

In our age of confessional politics, it will be important to watch this type of rhetoric in the upcoming presidential election.