The good news is that both President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney seem uninterested in attacking one another over matters of faith. Neither do they seem too keen on exploiting religion in the way we've seen in recent years. The bad news is that the reason for that may be less principled and more strategic.

"Put it this way," said Republican pollster Whitfield Ayres. "There is more downside than upside right now for either candidate to spend a lot of time talking openly about their faith."

Romney faces potential resistance to his Mormon faith, especially among the evangelical Christian voters who have been a foundation of support for every Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan. Some Christian conservatives also distrust him because of his past support — long repudiated — for abortion rights.

Obama has an even messier religion problem. Substantial numbers of voters — 16% in a recent poll — continue to believe that he is a Muslim, despite his decades of Christian observance. Others still fault him for his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., the Chicago pastor whose videotaped sermons criticizing the United States nearly sank Obama's 2008 campaign.