Abed Hammoud formed the Arab American Political Action Committee in 1998 in Dearborn, Mich., to consolidate and increase Arab-American voting power.

Mark Pryor is a Democratic U.S. senator from Arkansas. He partially credits his election to the advice of a political consultant who told him to never give a speech without quoting the Bible. He has said Democrats have trouble with people of faith.

David Dalin is a Conservative rabbi and a professor of history and political science at Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla. He has written about Jews and American political history and about the influence of Jews on the presidency.

Imam Johari Abul-Malik is outreach director for Dar Al-Hijrah in Falls Church, Va., one of the largest Islamic centers in the country. He is also treasurer of the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations. He is active with the Muslim American Society, based in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Bumgarner is executive editor of Florida Baptist Witness, a weekly newspaper based in Jacksonville, Fla., and criticized the Democrats’ effort to reach out to religious voters during the 2004 election.

The Rev. James Forbes Jr. is senior minister emeritus at Riverside Church in New York City.

Gerald Zelizer is a Conservative rabbi and pastor of Neve Shalom in Metuchen, N.J.

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

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