The exit polls showed that over 70% responders voted for Obama to get rid of Bush and because of concerns over the economy--not race and not religion
On Nov 13, 12:25 pm, Hollywood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Travis, > > Religions and people other than Christians "have Faith"........hick. > > On Nov 12, 7:08 pm, Travis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > From: Travis > > Subject: "How People of Faith Voted in the 2008 Presidential Race" > > > Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008, > > > The ignorant fools! They don't know what they've done! > > > May God have mercy on the USA! > > > <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdates> > > Image courtesy of istockphoto. click for info <http://www.istockphoto.com/> > > Page Tools > > > <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Subscribe> > > <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdate...> > > > How People of Faith Voted in the 2008 Presidential Race > > November 11, 2008 (Ventura, California) - With the nation's longest > > election campaign ever finally completed, and Barack Obama emerging as a 53% > > to 46% victor over Sen. John McCain, a new election analysis survey by The > > Barna Group provides the details of how people of faith voted in 2008. > > *Obsession > > or Sport?* News about the candidates and the election seemed ubiquitous for > > the past 18 months. Overall, two-thirds of all registered voters (67%) said > > they followed the 2008 election campaign "very closely" and another > > one-quarter (27%) followed it "somewhat closely." People who do not consider > > themselves to be Christians followed the campaign slightly more closely than > > did those who claim to be Christian (71% versus 67%). To place that interest > > level in context, the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, > > which ended in a dead heat, was followed "very closely" by just 43% of > > registered voters. *Evangelicals* Evangelicals are a small proportion of the > > national population - just 7% of all adults. But they tend to capture the > > imagination and attention of the national media and political pundits. The > > survey data consistently show that evangelical Christians have among the > > highest rates of voting turnout among all voter groups and are, in fact, > > strikingly different from the rest of the population - even from other born > > again Christians who are not evangelical. As was true in the past two > > presidential elections, two-thirds of all evangelicals who were registered > > to vote (65%) were aligned with the Republican Party. One out of five (21%) > > was Democrats and just one out of ten (10%) was registered independent of a > > party. That puts evangelicals at odds with the national voter profile, which > > shows a plurality of Democrats (42%), one-third Republican (34%) and two out > > of ten (20%) independent of a party affiliation. Most remarkably, however, > > was the overwhelming support registered among evangelicals for Republican > > candidate John McCain. In total, 88% voted for Sen. McCain, compared to just > > 11% for Sen. Obama. The 88% is statistically identical to the 85% of > > evangelicals who backed George W. Bush in 2004. Surveys conducted by Barna > > throughout the campaign season showed that evangelicals were not > > enthusiastic about either candidate, but on Election Day evangelicals came > > through in a big way for the most conservative major candidate on the > > ballot. Evangelicals chose their candidate on a different set of indicators > > than did other voters. When asked their primary reason for supporting the > > candidate they selected, 40% of evangelicals said it was because of the > > candidate's position on moral issues. Only 9% of other voters listed that as > > their driving reason. Other significant reasons for evangelical voters > > included their candidate's political experience (23%) and his character > > (15%). Unlike other polls, Barna surveys classify a person as an evangelical > > based upon their answers to nine questions about their theological beliefs. > > Most national surveys simply ask people if they consider themselves to be > > evangelical, born again or a committed conservative Christian. As a result, > > evangelicals in Barna surveys are significantly different than the groups > > reported in other surveys. For the sake of comparison, the Barna survey also > > examined the voting behavior of people who identified themselves as > > evangelicals. The self-identified evangelicals represented 41% of the adult > > population, although just 16% of them qualified as evangelicals under the > > Barna Group's theological-based classification questions. Among the > > self-described evangelicals, 61% voted for Sen. McCain and 38% went with > > Sen. Obama. (For information about the Barna classification process, see the > > "About the Research" section at the end of this article.) *Born Again > > Christians* Evangelicals represent just one out of every six born again > > adults. The survey data among all born again adults found that they were > > much more likely to vote for Sen. McCain (57% did so) than for Sen. Obama > > (42%). As substantial as that margin is, the 15-point gap was considerably > > less than the 24-point margin accorded to George W. Bush in his 2004 > > campaign against Sen. John Kerry. However, it is identical to the 15-point > > spread they gave to Mr. Bush in 2000, and more than double the 6-point > > margin they gave Sen. Bob Dole in his 1996 loss to Democratic incumbent Bill > > Clinton. However, born again Christians in general chose their candidate > > based on different criteria than did evangelicals. The major motivations > > among born again Christians who are not evangelical were political > > experience (20%), ideas about the country's future (18%), character (17%), > > and economic policies (17%). To highlight the contrast in priorities, note > > that just 7% of evangelicals identified economic policy as a motivator, and > > only 8% of the non-evangelical born again Christians listed the candidate's > > positions on moral issues. Many observers were surprised to discover that > > born again Christians, who are about 43% of the adult population, were just > > as likely to be registered as Democrats as Republicans. At the time of the > > election, 39% of registered voters who were born again identified themselves > > as Democrats, 41% as Republicans, and 16% as independents. *Voters Outside > > the Born Again Universe* The majority of the population is not born again > > Christians. Among them a much higher proportion was registered as either > > Democrats (44%) or independents (24%) than was true among the born again > > segment. Barely one-quarter of the non-born again group (27%) was > > Republicans. Non-Christians provided Sen. Obama with a lopsided 62% to 36% > > margin of preference over Sen. McCain. That 26-point gap surpassed the > > 20-point margin the group provided to John Kerry in 2004 and the 15-point > > margin awarded to Al Gore in 2000. This shift came primarily from those > > non-born again adults who have moderate social and political views. The > > non-born again constituency was motivated to support their candidate of > > choice largely because of his ideas about the future (28%), economic > > policies (16%) and political experience (15%). *Protestants and > > Catholics* Protestant > > voters were evenly split between being registered as Democrats and > > Republicans. However, they sided with Sen. McCain by a 53% to 46% split. > > That 7-point gap was just half the margin accorded to George W. Bush in 2004 > > (57% to 42%), but within range of the 4-point preference given to Mr. Bush > > in 2000 (51% to 47%). Nearly half of all registered Catholics were aligned > > with the Democratic Party (48%), compared to only about one-quarter > > associated with the Republicans (28%) and one-fifth who remained independent > > (20%). Their voting behavior was significantly different than that of > > Protestants: they backed Sen. Obama by a 56% to 43% outcome. That was far > > different than the even split in 2004 (49% for Pres. Bush vs. 49% for Sen. > > Kerry) and substantially more support for the Democratic candidate than they > > had given to Al Gore in 2000 (49%, versus 43% to Mr. Bush). *Atheists and > > Agnostics* The second largest faith group in America, trailing only the > > Christian segment, is atheists and agnostics. These religious skeptics > > represent about one out of every ten adults. About four out of ten skeptics > > were registered as Democrats, four out of ten as independents and just two > > out of ten as Republicans. Three-fourths of atheists and agnostics (76%) > > gave their vote to Sen. Obama, while only 23% backed Sen. McCain. That is a > > step up from the level of support Democrats have previously received from > > skeptics. In 2004, 64% of atheists and agnostics voted for Democratic > > challenger John Kerry. *Voters of Non-Christian Faiths* About 5% of > > America's adult population associates with faiths other than Christianity > > (e.g., Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.). Within this group, about half (47%) > > were registered as Democrats, 30% were independent, and one-quarter (23%) > > were Republicans. The ballots of this group were most often cast for Barack > > Obama (62%) rather than John McCain (36%). The support provided to the > > Democratic candidate is identical to the backing this group provided to John > > Kerry four years ago (61%). *Assumed Competence* Barna asked voters how well > > they thought each candidate would perform as president if he were elected. > > The outcome showed that Sen. Obama's constituency was more confident in his > > ability as chief executive than Sen. McCain's supporters were of their man's > > potential. In addition, McCain supporters were more confident that Sen. > > Obama would do well in the position than Obama supporters were about Sen. > > McCain's likely performance. Among Sen. McCain's voters, only 74% felt he > > would do an excellent or good job as president. In contrast, 91% of Sen. > > Obama's supporters said he would perform well. Among Sen. McCain's backers, > > 17% felt Sen. Obama would do well if the Democrat were elected. Only 10% of > > Sen. Obama's voters felt > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
