Still a Believer in Faith-Based Solutions

The Economist catches up with John DiIulio, the Democrat who was Bush's “faith czar” for just 7 months in his first term, to re-examine the viability of what the magazine calls "compassionate centrism." With "faith-based" now unfortunately associated more with political zeal—faith-based wars, faith-based science—than solving social problems, Diallo is looking to a Democratic presidency to prove there's still life in the "faith" agenda.

And he sees hope in that quarter, with all the leading Democrats exhibiting enthusiasm for "faith." The magazine hopes this is more than a Machiavellian effort to increase their electability, and that the secular wing of the party can overcome its orthodoxy enough to side with the pragmatist DiIulio—who sees no constitutional problem with channeling public funding into religious organizations as long as it's monitored well. (More separation of church and state stories.)