Which brings us to a second major development: Spritual Mentors, Advisors and Guides Generate Volatility. The jury is out as to what long-range effects Wright’s orations will have on the market of undecided Typical White Persons. My own view is that in a general election they will play negatively, if only because there is so much more material where that came from.

Less damaging, but not inconsequential, is the fallout from John Hagee’s endorsement of John McCain. The pastor’s un-ecumenical observations on Catholicism, needless to say, were not quite the outreach initiative that the Maverick had in mind for the nation’s largest religious denomination.

According to Hagee, McCain sought him out as a spiritual guide. The Senator did so because he wants to post W-like numbers among Evangelicals. But it is not at all clear if Evangelicals are configured to repeat their 2004 performance and vote in a massive block. I am of the opinion that they won’t and this is because Evangelical America is in flux.

Adding to the flux has been the much awaited emergence of a progressive column. So one possible trend--kindly pay heed to the punctuation--might be reported as: The Evangelical Left is Rip Roaring and Ready for Action? Hints that these Christians were primed for mobilization could be gleaned from the New Baptist Covenant Celebration of two months ago. I do not yet have a sense of how much leadership, organization and infrastructure liberal Evangelicals currently possess. Let it be said, however, that investing in Obama seems a logical choice for this demographic.

This draws attention to a curiosity of the 2008 campaign: Hillary Clinton’s Religious Campaigning is Rather Muted. True, she is always ready with a scriptural verse or reminiscences of her days in Methodist Bible study classes. Yet for the most part the Senator's approach to Faith and Values politicking is mostly defensive and preemptive: she seems more prepared to ward off accusations that she is a godless liberal than she is equipped to aggressively target religious constituencies. I am not sure why that is. Perhaps, she recognized--wisely--that this is Obama’s game. Or maybe she is not comfortable doing protracted God Talk.

For the (rare) secularist who votes solely on the basis of Wall etiquette Senator Clinton may be the most attractive of the remaining candidates. Nothing indicates, however, that she wishes to expand her operations into the secular sector. The first quarter lends warrant to the surmise that Secularists are Still Being Marginalized (But at Least They’re Entertained). With the Democrats cold-shouldering them and Mitt Romney setting them in parallel with radical jihadists (though he later offered an olive branch) it has been a humbling campaign.

2008 is, at best, a “rebuilding season” for nonbelievers and Church/State separatists. On the other hand, many confess to me that they are getting a nasty kick out of all this Faith and Values campaigning gone terribly awry.

But these developments, On-Faith(ful) readers, are of minor significance compared to the biggest story of 2008. I will get to that on Friday.

Watch Sally Quinn and I discuss St. Hillary and other God Vote issues: Whatever happened to St. Hillary?

(For more information about religion and the candidates check out Faith 2008 by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs).