God is being brought into presidential politics here in a way that would baffle Irish politicians, except perhaps Dana, who has firsthand experience of the American scene.
This is because America is a very religious country, while appearing to foreigners to embody secularism and cultural depravity. But presidential candidates are now anxious to show how their Christian beliefs influence their political goals at the risk of flouting the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.
Vice President Al Gore is known for his personal faith and how it became strengthened through his army service in Vietnam and a serious car accident which almost killed his only son. As support for his campaign to succeed President Clinton has begun to waver, he sat down recently in the White House with religious correspondents to discuss his beliefs and how they affect his politics.
Asked how his Christian faith (he is a southern Baptist) worked itself out in his daily life, he replied: "Faith is the centre of my life. I don't wear it on my sleeve, but I'm happy to respond to your question by affirming my faith." This session with religious correspondents was a follow-up to a major speech in Mr Gore's campaign where, at a Salvation Army centre, he called for a "new partnership" between government and "faith-based organisations" whereby they would get federal funding for their social programmes.
Mr Gore insisted he still believed in separation of church and state but said that national leaders have become "trapped in a deadend debate" on this issue. There was "a false choice between hollow secularism and right-wing religion. Both positions are rigid. They are not where solutions lie."
The reference to "right-wing religion" was Mr Gore distancing himself from the conservatives of the Christian Coalition who have a strong influence in Republican politics.
But Mr Gore is on delicate ground in advocating federal funding for religious organisations who work with the poor, although he insisted that direct proselytising would be prohibited.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has said it is considering challenging such schemes and has warned Mr Gore that his position has raised "serious constitutional issues".
But where abortion is concerned, Mr Gore told a rally of Democratic women this week that "that hard-won right will be safe with me as your President". Commentators have pointed out, however, that when Mr Gore was in the House of Representatives in the 1970s he voted in favour of numerous anti-abortion Bills.
For his Republican opponents such as Governor George W. Bush and Mrs Elizabeth Dole, the abortion issue is much more delicate. They are both trying to win support from the anti-abortion religious conservatives of the powerful Christian Coalition without alienating the majority of women who are pro-choice.
Their approach has been to state their personal anti-abortion views while pointing out that as a result of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision over 20 years ago, the right to an abortion could only be changed by constitutional amendment. At the same time, the candidates are not shy of recounting their faith experiences.
Mrs Dole, who was reared a Baptist, told a recent prayer breakfast about her feeling of "spiritual starvation" until she met a clergyman who inspired her to join a prayer group and a Bible study circle for Senate wives.
Governor Bush, who is way ahead of other contenders in the polls, has attracted a lot of media attention because of his hard-drinking past. But he has also seen the error of his ways.
He told a congregation in the Second Baptist Church in Houston earlier this year that "I grew up in the church, but I didn't always walk the walk". He said that "there came a point in my life when I felt something was missing".
Mr Bush has recalled that the Rev Billy Graham, the famous evangelical preacher, "planted the mustard seed" 15 years ago when he was visiting George Bush snr and the son asked him a lot of questions. A year later, after George jnr had been celebrating his 40th birthday, he woke up with a hangover. He took up Bible studies and has not drunk since. How much American voters are influenced by the religious beliefs of their politicians is hard to know. Back in 1960, voters wanted to be reassured by John F. Kennedy that his Catholic faith would not make him a tool of the Vatican. He told them he would resign rather than accept orders from a pope.
For Mr Gore, he wants it to be known that he would find it hard to separate his faith from his reason when he makes political decisions. Mrs Dole and Mr Bush proclaim that their born-again faith is now a vital part of their lives. President Clinton, of course, used a televised prayer breakfast to ask forgiveness of God and America for his infidelities with Ms Lewinsky and his poll ratings went even higher.
You cannot keep God out of American politics.