Politico’s Jeanne Cummings, an old Atlanta Journal Constitution colleague of mine, has a good piece on Obama’s version of faith-based politicking. She rightly signals his biggest innovation, the “faith forums” his campaign has organized in caucus and primary states around the country. To wit:

Just as in Iowa, faith forums are a component of Obama’s South Carolina religious outreach: his campaign set out to hold them in more than 30 counties. The events were open to all denominations — and even non-churchgoers — and the conversation focused on how faith influences people’s view on issues.
About a thousand people attended those combined events. Among them was the Rev. Joe Darby, pastor of Charleston’s Morris Brown AME Church, who attended two sessions and was struck by their stimulating nature.
When a candidate meets with minister-backers, the focus is on what “we need to do to mobilize voters. It’s more political,” said Darby. In the Obama sessions, “the discussion was more about how your faith guides you on issues. I think that puts faith in the right perspective.”

These strike me as good things, regardless of whether they work for him politically. But the devil on my other shoulder wants to know, do they work for him politically?