Clinton, Obama discuss public and private faith

The two appeared together at Messiah College near Harrisburg.

GRANTHAM, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday there is potential for life to begin as conception as she and presidential rival Barack Obama answered questions about faith and religion in both their personal lives and the public discourse.

In a forum devoted to an issue rare on the campaign trail, the two White House hopefuls talked about the presence of God in their lives and how often they read the Bible as well as divisive issues such as abortion, abstinence and human rights within the context of faith.

The two are reaching out to people of faith in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary April 22.

Clinton, who spoke first, was asked whether life begins at conception — which opponents of abortion contend is a reality that makes any termination of a pregnancy the ending of a life.

“I believe the potential for life begins at conception,” Clinton said.

“For me, it is also not only about a potential life. It is about the other lives involved. ... I have concluded, after great, you know, concern and searching my own mind and heart over many years, that our task should be in this pluralistic, diverse life of ours in this nation that individuals must be entrusted to make this profound decision, because the alternative would be such an intrusion of government authority that it would be very difficult to sustain in our kind of open society.”

She added that abortion should remain legal, safe and rare.

The two candidates addressed an audience that included religious leaders from all faiths at Messiah College near Harrisburg.

Clinton said she has felt the gift of God in her life and that she makes decisions on tough morale issues such as abortion and the treatment of alleged terrorists after prayer, contemplation and study.

“I don’t pretend to even believe that I know the answers to a lot of these questions,” Clinton said. “I don’t.”

In a campaign stop in Steelton, Pa., Obama lashed out at Clinton, mocking her sudden vocal support for gun rights and saying he understands the concerns of working class people.

“She knows better. Shame on her. Shame on her,” Obama told an audience at a union hall here.

The Illinois senator has spent two days on the defensive after comments he made at a San Francisco fundraiser suggesting working class people are bitter about their economic circumstances and “cling to guns and religion” as a result. Clinton has pounded him for the remarks, calling him “elitist and divisive.”

After reiterating his regret for his choice of words, Obama turned the tables on Clinton — noting that she accepted campaign contributions from drug and insurance company lobbyists and mocking, among other things, her sudden fealty to the rights of gun owners.

“She is running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment. She’s talking like she’s Annie Oakley,” Obama said, invoking the famed female sharpshooter immortalized in the musical “Anne Get Your Gun.”

Clinton, meanwhile, in a stop in Scranton, tried to portray herself as an ally of the middle class by keeping alive Obama’s comments about bitter voters.

“Senator Obama has not owned up to what he said and taken accountability for it,” she told reporters during an informal news conference outside a home.