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Obama Backed by Less Religious Americans
 Presidential candidate Barack
Obama has stronger support among less religious Americans than rival
John McCain, a survey revealed. The survey, conducted by The Gallup
Poll and released Tuesday, found 55 percent of Americans who say
religion is not important in their life backed Obama, compared to 36
percent for McCain. The reverse was true for Americans who said
religion was important in their life, with 50 percent to 40 percent
preferring McCain over Obama.
This
correlation is most clearly seen in the segment of Americans who are
white and identify themselves as either Protestant or some other
non-Catholic Christian tradition. Among these believers, McCain beats
Obama by a 36-point margin, 63 percent to 27 percent. The two
candidates were essentially tied among those in this group who say
religion is not important in their life, with McCain at 46 percent and
45 percent for Obama.
But exceptions to the correlation between religiosity and support for
Republican McCain occur among Hispanic Catholics and black non-Catholic
Christians. Among white Hispanic Catholics, Obama beat McCain by a
large margin even among those who said religion is important in their
life.
Obama received 57 percent support among religious Hispanic Catholics,
compared to McCain’s 31 percent. The Illinois senator, who is
vying to be the first black U.S. president, won by an even larger
margin among those that said religion is not important in their life,
63 percent to 30 percent.
Preference for Obama over McCain was even more dramatic among black
non-Catholic Christians. Ninety percent of this group’s religious
voters supported Obama, versus 4 percent for McCain. The number was
slightly raised among the group’s non-religious voters, with 92
percent for Obama and four percent supporting McCain.
The finding that religious voters prefer a Republican candidate is not
new. Evangelical Christians, who are viewed as highly religious, have
traditionally been stalwart voters of the Republican Party –
although that idea is being challenged this election year.
Younger and moderate evangelicals have been more open to Obama’s
candidacy than in past elections towards a Democratic contender. Many
find his emphasis on social justice issues such as poverty and Darfur
appealing. The Obama campaign has also aggressively courted religious
voters with initiatives explaining how Obama plans to put his faith
into action.
Experts have predicted that Obama could gain as much as 30 to 40 percent of the evangelical vote this fall.
The Gallup poll for this survey questioned 95,000 registered voters from March through June of this year.
Source: Christian Post
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