Elaine Kamarck is a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. She was a senior policy adviser to the 2000 Gore campaign for president and worked in the Clinton-Gore administration.

Erin Splaine is pastor of the First Unitarian Society of West Newton, Mass., which describes itself as a church of “liberal faith.”

Read an essay by Melissa Harris Lacewell ( Harris-Perry)posted on the Martin Marty Center website about African-American religion and its relationship to politics and voting.

Kristen Day is executive director of Democrats for Life of America, an organization that works toward the election of Democrats who oppose abortion.

Al From is the founder of the Democratic Leadership Council in Washington, D.C.

James Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, D.C.

Melody Barnes is vice provost for global student leadership initiatives at New York University. She previously served as President Barack Obama’s domestic policy adviser.

Joseph Loconte is an associate professor of history at The King’s College in New York City. He is the author of a 2001 book about the Bush initiative, God, Government and the Good Samaritan: The Promise and the Peril of the President’s Faith-Based Agenda.

Stephanie Summers is CEO of the Center for Public Justice, a Christian-based policy research center.