Obama will hold gatherings Wednesday, starting at UCCS

Presidential candidate Barack Obama, who's been reaching out in recent days to evangelical voters, will hold a series of gatherings Wednesday in Colorado Springs, often considered the capital of conservative Christian ministries.

The presumptive Democratic nominee will arrive in the morning and speak at an invitation-only appearance at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs followed by private meetings with supporters and a fundraiser in the evening, said Pat Waak, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party.

The speech will be in the Lion's Den gym, which has a capacity of 400 people, according to UCCS spokesman Tom Hutton.

The Gazette will be blogging live from the event.

The Obama campaign said the senator will outline his national service agenda and has invited members of the military and service organizations such as AmeriCorps.

The appearance by the Illinois senator, announced late last week, comes within a week of a dustup with James Dobson, the founder of the Colorado Springs-based Christian ministry Focus on the Family.

Dobson accused Obama of "deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view."

In previous presidential campaigns, the religious right's criticism of Democratic candidates went largely unanswered, but Obama and his evangelical supporters were quick to respond.

Texas pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, who officiated at first daughter Jenna Bush's wedding, was joined by "a coalition of pastors and other Christians ... who are standing up for our Christian faith and supporting Barack Obama" in creating a Web site called "James Dobson Doesn't Speak For Me," which challenges Dobson's claims.

Obama kicked off his week with a speech in Missouri about patriotism and talked about faith-based initiatives in Zanesville, Ohio, in what some are calling an attempt to rally the "Christian left" to his side.

Republicans greatly outnumber Democrats in El Paso County and President Bush trounced his Democratic opponent John Kerry by a 2-to-1 margin in the 2004 election. A poll released last week gives Obama a 5 percentage point lead in the state. The poll was conducted by Quinnipiac University, The Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com.

Obama last visited to the state in May when he toured a Thornton school and held a town hall meeting.