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Progressive evangelical and Catholic leaders voiced their support for the Democratic Party’s platform plank on abortion, citing new provisions aimed at reducing the number of abortions by improving women’s health care, adoption services and income-support programs.

In a conference call sponsored by his progressive evangelical group Sojourners, Jim Wallis called the platform position a “historic step forward” in reconciling the party’s support of abortion rights with the concerns of Christians who oppose the practice.

In the presidential primaries, religion was the key topic in 10 percent of the news coverage, nearly equaling the amount of coverage (11 percent of stories) given to race and gender, according to Pew researchers.

After studying articles from 50 mainstream news outlets over 16 months, ending in April, the Pew project concluded that religion “could be at least as important in the 2008 presidential campaign as it was in 2000 and 2004.”

With a California megachurch as the setting for their first joint campaign appearance, Republican John McCain gave crisp, campaign-tested responses, and Democrat Barack Obama offered nuanced replies to questions on religion, character, leadership and public policy.

It was not a debate, and the clearest winner—in terms of heightened influence—of the mid-August, nationally televised “civil forum” surely was pastor-interrogator Rick Warren.