Opinion
Evangelical Democrats Redux
By Mark Silk — February 15, 2008
Spurred by a call from the AP’s Rachel Zoll, I’ve been thinking a little more about how to determine whether white evangelicals are showing any signs of drifting toward the Democrats this year. Unfortunately, in this regard the post-election poll of evangelicals in Missouri and Tennessee sponsored by Faith in Public Life and the Center […]
COMMENTARY: The papal compromise that fell short
By James Rudin — February 15, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Last week on Ash Wednesday, L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, published the revised text of a 1962 prayer used in the Latin Mass on Good Friday. Normally, such an article would attract little attention despite its placement in the Vatican paper. But this is no “ordinary” prayer, and […]
God Gaps
By Mark Silk — February 14, 2008
Over the past few elections, I’ve been involved in focusing a lot of attention on differences in voting behavior based on frequency of worship attendance. The now notorious God Gap has to do with the tendency of frequent attenders regardless of religion to vote Republican, and for less frequent attenders to vote Democratic. In 2000, […]
GodTube
By rvineis — February 14, 2008
GodTube.com, a YouTube site for Christians that claims over 280,000 registered users, is conducting an informal presidential preference poll. It is no big surprise to see that Mike Huckabee garners 47% of votes, but it is interesting to see that Obama comes in 2nd place with 26%. This site is worthwhile to check out. With […]
An Evangelical Party?
By Mark Silk — February 14, 2008
The AP’s Eric Gorski had a story yesterday about how South Dakota conservative Christian activist Bob Fischer is trying to whomp up support for a third-party alternative for conservatives, now that John McCain is the presumptive designee of the Republican Party. This is the same guy who tried to do the same when it looked […]
The Catholic Vote
By Mark Silk — February 14, 2008
While the archbishop of San Antonio expresses dismay that St. Mary’s University would allow Hillary Clinton to hold a rally on campus, Barack Obama is retooling his message for blue-collar workers in heavily Catholic Wisconsin. Looking down the road to November, conservative legal scholar Douglas Kmiec is smitten, as a Catholic, with Obama over McCain. […]
Anti-Mormonism
By Mark Silk — February 13, 2008
Prior to Mitt Romney’s withdrawal, there were five exit polls in states with high percentages of evangelicals that asked how much a candidate’s religious beliefs mattered: Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Mike Huckabee won Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, and came in second to John McCain in Oklahoma and South Carolina. Romney came in […]
State by State
By Mark Silk — February 13, 2008
Commentaries on the religious data from all available exit polls are finally posted (except Florida, which will be up tomorrow). Just click on the Exit Poll Commentary link under State by State to the left, and select the state of your choice. You’ll find a pie chart with the religious layout of each state, a […]
Huckabee in Texas
By rvineis — February 13, 2008
Mike Huckabee is no longer lonely in the Lone Star state. The Dallas Morning News reports that Huck has assembled a base of evangelicals to turn out his people on March 4. Additionally, Huck released a statement today stating that he recieved the endorsement of state senator Dan Patrick. Patrick on Huckabee: “As a committed […]
COMMENTARY: Looking ahead, not back
By Tom Ehrich — February 13, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service LAKE GENEVA, Wis. _ A former Playboy Club in southeast Wisconsin might seem an odd venue for a church leadership retreat. But the provocatively clad “Playboy bunnies” are long gone, replaced by the normal mix of jeans-clad folks enjoying a weekend getaway. Besides, as a venue for discerning God’s will, […]
COMMENTARY: Looking ahead, not back
By RNS Blog Editor — February 13, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like many religious institutions, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) has commissioned countless works of art to educate believers and non-believers about its history and doctrines. Now, like other churches, Mormons are engaged in a low-simmer dispute with artists over how the faith should be […]
Maryland Catholics
By Mark Silk — February 12, 2008
They go for Obama by a large margin, 52 to 44 percent, and white Catholics go for him 49 percent to 47 percent, whereas he lost white Protestants 41 percent to 54 percent. Update: Apparently corrected exit polls show that Obama in fact lost Catholics by a narrow margin 48 percent to 45 percent, white […]
Virginia Catholics
By Mark Silk — February 12, 2008
The big religious news out of Virginia on the Democratic side is that Catholics went for Obama, and that he came within three points of Clinton among white Catholics–just as he did among white Protestants. Update: Apparently corrected exit polls show Obama winning the white Catholic vote 49 percent to 48 percent–and breaking even with […]
Romney Campaign, RIP
By Mark Silk — February 12, 2008
So what’s the verdict on the religious significance of Mitt Romney’s run? Here are some provisional thoughts. 1. Romney’s Mormonism did hurt him. There were evangelicals who voted for him, but in those states where they are thickest on the ground, there were too many who didn’t. As a generic Protestant, he would, I suspect, […]
Ralph Reed on McCain
By rvineis — February 11, 2008
CBN’s David Brody interviewed Christian Coalition leader and fallen GOP angel Ralph Reed on his thoughts of John McCain. Reed outlined what McCain needs to do to win over his party’s base. Reed: “First, he should choose a running mate with strong conservative credentials, both on social issues and economic issues. Then he should adopt […]
