- Both campaigns appealingto religious voters

with two new op-eds publishedtoday by the Christian Post.

In one Vice President MikePence makes the argument that

president Trump is the bestchoice for people of faith

highlighting theadministration's pro-life record.

In the other op-ed Joe Bidenoffers his own personal appeal

for why Christians should vote for him,

explaining how God's greatestcommand is what drives him,

writing quote,

loving God and loving others

are at the very foundation of my faith

throughout my career in public service

these values have kept me grounded

in what matters most end quote.

Well, John Grano worksat the Christian Post

as its Senior Managing Editor.

He joins us now withsome inside information

about how these op-eds

about these op-eds and how both campaigns

were eager to get their messageto the Christian audience.

John welcome.

Can you tell us the backstory

of reaching out to the campaigns

and getting them toparticipate in these op-eds?

- Oh yeah.

We've always had contactswith both campaigns

it is markedly differentfrom the Democratic side

this election, compared to Hillary Clinton

she wasn't that interestedin the faith vote

very different for BarackObama who did reach out

and develop a organization

that tried to respond toa Christian interests.

So that's kind of backto back to 2008, really

2012 Barack wasn't as active,

but certainly Biden is backto kind of the 2008 version

of Christian involvement interms of the Democratic party.

Now the Republican party has always

considered the Christian vote,

a rock solid

to a rock solid pieceof their voting puzzle

- John, really quickly here

why did we hear fromvice president Mike Pence

and not President Trump?

- Well you know, we discussed,they offered both and,

you know we just had a,

I had a conversation with them

and I think many Christiansreally like Mike Pence.

I mean, he's the, kind of the

leader of the Christian leaders

who have been tapped inthe Trump administration

and you know, if you stepback and just look at that

how have Christian leadersfared in a Trump administration?

You know they've comportedthemselves quite well,

quite nicely.

They've done an excellent job,

and sort of Pence is atthe top of that list.

So we decided that,that Mike you know, has

you know, I I'll use the word credibility.

I mean, not that Trumpdoesn't have credibility,

but he's you know, Donald is a,

an impresario he's a braggadocio,

he's all New York all thetime you know, what can I say,

it's often the Christian witness

doesn't meld well with that.

- John, we know your audience,

your readers are bothRepublicans and Democrats,

are the campaigns reachingout to two different audiences

within the Christian space here?

- Oh, that's a great question.

And then, you know that's a question

that's going to becontinued to be unpacked

in the future here.

Since Roe V Wade,

the Christian vote has been pretty solid

because of that issue.

And now that Amy ConeyBarrett has been nominated,

been added to the Supreme Court

you wonder whether both campaigns realize

that the Christians are going to begin

to think about otherissues besides Roe V. Wade.

I mean, we have seen anexplosion of interest

in the subject of, you know,

can a pro-lifer vote for Biden this year

because of other issues?

Christians are interested in healthcare,

Christians are interested in education,

Christians are excuse me,interested in police reform.

These are seemingly democraticissues that resonate.

So we definitely have that division.

I mean, it's a very divisive election

and there are divides inthe Christian community too.

So no one should be surprised about that.

But the far reaching thing here is

both campaigns have decided to say

you know, we have tostart to make our case.

What's important to you,to the Christian community.

- All right, John Gronowith the Christian Post,

we have to leave it there

but it's great to have you on,

thank you for joining us.