The national Democratic Party, which author Ramesh Ponnuru calls the Party of Death, has set its sights on African-Americans during this critical election year.

Well-known black leaders such as the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are encouraging blacks to turn their focus away from social issuessuch as abortionand concentrate on other issues as they head to the polls in November.

Senator Barack Obama has joined the fray with an editorial in the nations most colorful newspaper, USA Today. Obama, who is seen as a future Presidential candidate, writes, My faith shapes my values, but applying those values to policymaking must be done with principles that are accessible to all people, religious or not.

While Obama waxes philosophic about Americans looking for a deeper, fuller conversation about religion in this country, he also claims, To base one's life on such uncompromising commitments (of religion) may be sublime; to base our policymaking on them would be dangerous.

In other words, its fine if you are religiousjust dont try to apply those religious values to public policy.

In a well-crafted response to the Obama editorial, minister Johnny Hunter of the National Clergy Council states, A person who truly believes that politicians need not abandon religion would boldly state, My faith shapes my values, and that is why I will vote in accordance to my core value beliefs.

Hunter points out that it is possible that, when Obama votes in favor of abortion and sodomy, he is voting his core beliefs.

However, For many pastors and congregations who follow scriptural teaching, that is cause for alarm.

Hunter concludes by saying, No matter how reasonable he may appear to be when the TV cameras are rolling, without the news medias presence, the only opinion Senator Obama cares to hear is his own.

For too many years, the Democratic Party has taken the black vote for granted. They have kept African-Americans in the fold by championing affirmative action and government programs which are supposed to be helping blacks achieve economic parity. However, they ignored the fact that a number of African-Americans might care more about the Bible than about welfare benefitsmore about preserving the sanctity of marriage than about protecting the planet from big business.

For decades, the black family has been under attack from incompetent public officials who attempted to make blacks beholden to the federal government through government subsidies and positions on the public payroll. After all, if you delivered the promise of a job during a campaign, you naturally have an easier time winning the job-seekers vote at election time. But all those government giveaways and public jobs add up, resulting in bloated budgets, sky-high deficits, and extreme taxation. And many blacks are coming to realize that Uncle Sam is giving with one hand and taking away with the other, causing them to teeter on the brink of poverty.

Whats more, the federal governments abortion policy has decimated the African-American population. While blacks make up only about 12 percent of the population, they account for more than 40 percent of abortions.

Isnt it ironic that Democrats would push to abort future taxpayers who might also be future Democrats?

Fortunately, a number of blacks have seen the light, recognizing the fact that the Democratic Party does not appear to speak for them. Take Lynn Swann, an African-American who is running for Governor of Pennsylvania as a Republican. Swann sees how the GOPs low-tax and slow spending policy represents the best possible plan for his family and other black families.

What the Swann campaign shows is that many blacks have outgrown the Democratic Party and can no longer be counted on to pull the lever for the Dems at the voting booth. Its a new era in African-American politicsan era in which shepherds such as ministers Jackson and Sharpton may simply find themselves left behind.