The next morning, I drive the 10 miles to Plains and enter the sanctuary of Maranatha Baptist Church. It might seat 250 people, if they aren't too stout. The simple sanctuary with avocado green carpeting, which could have come from a 1960s basement rec room, holds just over 100 people this Sunday, a week before Christmas. Rosalynn Carter, in a simple red dress, is already in church talking with friends when Jimmy Carter, wearing cowboy boots, brown slacks and a sports coat, arrives. He asks people who are new to the church to raise their hands and tell where they are from.
Most hands go up.
Carter begins by taking questions from the audience, which is more interested in politics than religion. He responds frankly. The Carter Center, which monitors elections in emerging democracies, would not have accepted the recent presidential election, he says. He would be happy to serve on a blue ribbon committee to improve the election process, he tells the congregation. I believe President Ford would serve with me.