Why is religion a political consideration?

Most religious people (Christians) believe in basically the same things. For example, most Christians believe that abortion is immoral. So if a Christian knows that a person who is running for office e.g. the presidency, is a practicing Christian that person knows that they more than likely share many common beliefs. And they want to vote for a person whose belief system is close to their own. A person's core beliefs influences how they vote on matters that come before them - particularly matters concerning morals and ethics.

"Governmental actor's", I love that name. I believe it is because people want "their own kind" in office, or as is the case of most Americans "anyone but a muslim". I seriously believe a lot of Americans would vote for a scientologist before a muslim, crazy huh?

Because the preferred brand of delusion influences preferred political delusions.

You can't look at current political behavior and claim it isn't delusional can you?

Because the American people are more concerned about how people act and what they view then what they actually do. They'd rather "have a beer with them" then pick the best representative for their position.

it can influence how they come to decisions