JOHNSTON, Iowa — Democrats must convince voters that the party is comfortable with religion or else risk losing the presidential race next year, Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden said.

"I think my party has to demonstrate that it's not afraid to deal with the faith issue, and has a candidate who the public thinks knows there's something bigger than he or she is and is comfortable with that," said Biden. "We treat it like a third rail within our party."

Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke April 20 during a taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" program.

Biden said Democrats don't have to demonstrate deep religious faith, but they must make clear their understanding of religion's role in the nation's life. He said religious Americans accepted President Clinton, flaws and all, because he understood the importance of faith for the country.

"When Clinton sat in my Catholic church, people didn't think he was a paragon of virtue, they thought he respected them, they thought he was comfortable with them," Biden said.

Vice President Al Gore, when he ran for president in 2000 against George W. Bush, was far more reluctant to talk about faith and never connected with voters on the issue, Biden said, even though "Al Gore was as pure as the driven snow, fidelity was everything about him."

Biden has barely registered in polls, even though he sought the Democratic nomination in the 1988 election cycle and campaigned heavily in Iowa before dropping from the race. He said many people are making a mistake by treating those early polls seriously. He said most voters are willing to change their minds.