Associated Press – July 1, 2008:

Taking a page from President Bush, Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants to expand White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups, risking protests in his own party with his latest aggressive reach for voters who usually vote Republican.

Obama contended he is merely stating long-held positions — surprising to some, he said, after a primary campaign in which he was “tagged as being on the left.”

Obama recently won the endorsement of the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, leader of a Methodist megachurch in Houston who is very close to Bush.

McCain is a mostly reliable conservative vote, but he isn’t as passionate or vocal about religious conservatives as some would like. He also famously upbraided some Christian evangelical leaders as “agents of intolerance” in his first presidential campaign. He has sought to make amends since then and is continuing his outreach efforts. He met with world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham last weekend.

Obama’s high-profile embrace of a key theme of Bush’s time in office — the “faith-based initiative” — is just the latest example of him trying to show his centrist side.