With Gov. Mitt Romney's poll numbers slipping, the Republican nominee is appealing to the Christian right in hopes of shoring up his base.
"I will not take God out of the public square, and I will not take it out of the platform of my party," Romney said in Ohio on Monday, echoing earlier remarks in Virginia on Saturday. "I will not take God off our coins and I will not take God out of my heart."
Over the weekend, evangelical leader Pat Robertson—who has charged that President Obama has Muslim allegiances and has advised a man to beat his wife—enjoyed a private meeting with the former Massachusetts Governor. Robertson also attended a recent Romney rally.
Gov. Romney is "trying to use God in a last ditch effort to fool Evangelical right-wing Christians, Fox News viewers into thinking somehow they're fighting against a president who is anti-Christian," said Fred Schaeffer, a former Christian conservative who has turned his back on the movement. "This is a lie."
The Obama campaign responded with incredulity. "The president believes as much that God should be taken off a coin as he does that aliens will attack Florida," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "It’s an absurd question to be raised.”
Schaeffer added that Romney's platform also seemed particularly un-Christian due to its plan to cut so many social services.
"He's betting on Christian conservatives, but is he really just running on a wing and a prayer?" PoliticsNation host Rev. Al Sharpton said.