A Bush pastor's journey to Obama

In the new edition of Newsweek, Lisa Miller profiles Kirbyjon Caldwell, the African-American megachurch pastor who was a high-profile supporter of George W. Bush and is now a supporter of Barack Obama. Caldwell's church, Windsor Village United Methodist in Houston, claims a congregation of 14,000. An excerpt:

In this fraught and divisive election season, it is hard to remember the excitement religious conservatives felt about Bush in 2000. His plain-spoken evangelical faith and his commitment to supporting religious groups through government funding motivated even many African-Americans and Hispanics to vote the Republican ticket for the first time in their lives. (In 2004, religious African-Americans were credited with winning Ohio for Bush.) Caldwell voted for Bush for president not once, but twice. Twice he gave the invocation at Bush's Inauguration. He spent the night in the Lincoln Bedroom; he dined with Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; and this past May, standing before a Texas limestone cross festooned with white blossoms, Caldwell presided over the marriage of First Daughter Jenna Bush and Henry Hager. But after Bush's two terms in office, Caldwell, who is 55, has seen little evidence of the revival he promised that night in 2000. Last summer he aligned himself with a man who he believes better represents the Christian ethics and American values he preaches: Barack Obama.

(Photo, by Rick Bowmer/AP, shows President Bush hugging the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell during the 54th Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral Sunday, Jan. 21, 2001 in Washington.)