Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Politics 2008: The Media Conference for the Election of the President Monday, October 13 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Session II The New "New Rules" of Religion and Politics: Just When You Thought You Understood, Obama and Palin Scramble the Religious Rules In an election infused with religion, this panel of journalists and activists from the left and right assess: What are the greatest myths about religion and the election? What are the key faith factors determining the election outcome? Amy Holmes, Contributor, CNN Nancy Gibbs, Editor-at-Large, TIME Ralph Reed, Political Strategist Roland Martin, Contributor, CNN Mara Vanderslice, religious outreach director, Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign and founder and director of the Matthew 25 Network Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder, BeliefNet, former National Editor, U.S. News & World Report, Moderator Nancy Gibbs, Editor-at-Large, TIME: Nancy Gibbs is an editor-at-large for TIME. She has written more than 100 cover stories, including eight “Person of the Year” essays, as well as dozens of stories on the past three presidential campaigns. Most recently, Gibbs interviewed and profiled J.K. Rowling, who was a runner-up for TIME’s 2007 Person of the Year. Gibbs wrote the magazine’s black-bordered Sept. 11 issue and, in the issues that followed, weekly essays on the unfolding story and its impact on the nation. Her “If You Want to Humble an Empire” special issue won a National Magazine Award for a single-topic issue from the American Society of Magazine Editors; Time Inc.’s Luce Award for 2002 Story of the Year; and the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2002 Sigma Delta Chi Magazine Writing Award. In 1993, and again in 2006, Gibbs was a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, where she taught a seminar on politics and the press. Her writing appears in many anthologies, including the Princeton Anthology of Writing, edited by John McPhee and Carol Rigolot, and Best American Political Writing 2005. She serves as a consultant for CBS News and an occasional essayist for the NewsHour on PBS. Gibbs is the co-author, along with TIME’s Michael Duffy, of the The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (Center Street, 2007). Gibbs graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale in 1982. In 1984, as a Marshall Scholar, she earned a degree in politics and philosophy from Oxford University. She has served as chairman of the Board of Deacons and an elder of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Ralph Reed, Political Strategist: Ralph Reed is a Republican political strategist, social conservative, former Director of the Christian Coalition, best-selling author, TV commentator, lobbyist, and columnist. Reed has had an enormous influence on public debate, political campaigns, and grassroots organizing over the past two decades. Reed has worked on seven presidential campaigns and has advised 88 campaigns for U.S. Senate, Governor and Congress in 24 states. Most recently, he was Chair of the Southeast Region for the Bush-Cheney ’04 and campaign manager in Georgia. He served as a senior advisor to the campaign of President George W. Bush in 2000 and in 1994 he played a critical role in the election of the first Republican Congress in 40 years. In the 1980’s he served as national executive director of the College Republicans and co-chairman of the youth effort for President Ronald Reagan. Reed is widely credited with giving voice to the “silent majority” which propelled Reagan to the White House. As executive director of the Christian Coalition in the 1990’s, Reed built one of the most effective grassroots organizations in modern American politics. During his tenure, the organization’s budget grew from $200,000 to $27 million, and its support base grew from two thousand to two million members and supporters in two thousand local chapters. Recognized as one of the most important political strategists in America today, The Wall Street Journal called Reed “perhaps the finest political operative of his generation.” Newsweek named Reed one of the top ten political newsmakers in the nation; Life named him as one of the 20 most influential leaders of the baby-boom generation and Time includes him as one of the 50 future leaders in the country. Reed, as founder and president of the strategic marketing and public relations firm, Century Strategies, brings his national reputation, savvy, and organizational skills to bear in assuring that his political and corporate clients will achieve their public policy goals. Reed grew up in Toccoa, Georgia, earned his B.A. from the University of Georgia, and his Ph.D. in History from Emory University. Reed and his wife, Jo Anne, live with their four children in Duluth, Georgia. Steven Waldman is the Editor-in-Chief, President and Co-Founder of Beliefnet.com, the largest faith and spirituality website; Beliefnet won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence online in 2007. Waldman is also author of the New York Times bestselling book, “FOUNDING FAITH: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America”, and is a political columnist for The Wall Street Journal Online. Before founding Beliefnet, Waldman was National Correspondent for Newsweek and National Editor of U.S. News & World Report. His writings have appeared in the National Review, Slate, The New York Times and other esteemed publications. Mr. Waldman is called upon regularly to comment on breaking news and current events relating to religion, politics and spirituality in America. Time magazine named him one of the “spiritual innovators” of the new millennium. Amy Holmes is a CNN political contributor and conservative commentator. She appears regularly on The Situation Room and across all networks, including the network's prime-time line-up in programs such as Larry King Live and Anderson Cooper 360º. Prior to joining CNN, Holmes served as senior speechwriter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) from May 2003 to July 2006, writing on topics ranging from economic and energy policy to judicial nominations and the Iraq war. Before that she worked for the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, and helped build the non-profit Independent Women's Forum (IWF) as economic project director and campus project director. While at IWF, Holmes oversaw and edited the organization's labor statistics guide, "Women's Figures: An Illustrated Guide to the Economics of Women in America." Holmes, a registered independent, has been a familiar face on television news and talk programs. She has guest-hosted ABC's The View and appears regularly on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. In 2002, she hosted Lead Story on Black Entertainment Television, where she interviewed administration officials, journalists and top newsmakers. Holmes began her career on television as a Fox News Channel contributor and was later a commentator for MSNBC. She has appeared on PBS's To the Contrary, The Montel Williams Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS Early Morning Show and co-hosted PBS's Millennium 2000 broadcast. From 1999 to October of 2001, Holmes wrote a monthly guest column for USA Today. She has also been published in The Washington Post and National Review. Her political commentary has been cited in numerous national publications, including Newsweek, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Honey and Harper’s Bazaar. In May 2000, she was named one of PEOPLE magazine's "50 Most Beautiful. Holmes holds a degree in economics from Princeton University. Mara Vanderslice, religious outreach director, Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign and founder and director of the Matthew 25 Network: Mara Vanderslice is the organizing force behind the Matthew 25 Network. Prior to founding Matthew 25, Mara worked with Common Good Strategies, a political consulting firm that worked on connecting elected officials, candidates and state parties with America’s diverse religious communities. CGS worked on numerous successful political campaigns in 2006. Prior to that, Mara was the Director of Religious Outreach for the Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign. Mara’s work has been profiled in The New York Times, TIME magazine, The Washington Post, ABC News and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Mara also appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Steve Waldman is the Editor-in-Chief, President and Co-Founder of Beliefnet.com, the largest faith and spirituality website; Beliefnet won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence online in 2007. Waldman is also author of the New York Times bestselling book, “FOUNDING FAITH: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America”, and is a political columnist for The Wall Street Journal Online. Before founding Beliefnet, Waldman was National Correspondent for Newsweek and National Editor of U.S. News & World Report. His writings have appeared in the National Review, Slate, The New York Times and other esteemed publications. Mr. Waldman is called upon regularly to comment on breaking news and current events relating to religion, politics and spirituality in America. Time magazine named him one of the “spiritual innovators” of the new millennium. Streaming live video by Ustream