KIM LAWTON: Senator John Kerry says he has selected a running mate who understands the values of America.
Senator JOHN KERRY (D-MA, at Announcement): I know his strength; I know his conscience; I know his faith.
LAWTON: John Edwards was raised and baptized in a Southern Baptist church. But in a December interview with the Interfaith Alliance, Edwards said he fell away from religion during college and law school. Then, a family tragedy changed that.Senator JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC, to Interfaith Alliance): And I lost a son in 1996, and my faith came roaring back. And it played an enormous role in my ability to get through that period, and it stayed with me and has been enormously important.
LAWTON: Edwards became a United Methodist and is a member of the Edenton Street Methodist Church in Raleigh, where he was also on the board of the faith-based Urban Ministries of Wake County. In Washington, he has attended the more liberal Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church.
Sen. EDWARDS: Let us pray.LAWTON: Edwards has also co-chaired the heavily evangelical National Prayer Breakfast, where he led a prayer in 2002.
Dr. SHAUN CASEY (Professor of Christian Ethics, Wesley Theological Seminary): He's from a mainline Protestant denomination. He's Southern, and in that sense, he has perhaps a better ear for evangelical religion because he's simply a child of the South. He knows the rhythms and the cadences of Southern religion, which is something Kerry himself really doesn't possess.
LAWTON: In his speeches, Edwards plans to emphasize values. The Kerry campaign says the vice-presidential candidate will be speaking "to the heart of America."
