Jewish Democratic voters tilt slightly to Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama, leads him by a big margin over Catholic Democrats while Democrats who say they are Protestant divide about evenly, according to a Gallup poll conducted March 1-22. Among Jewish Democrats, Clinton leads Obama 48 percent to 43 percent with 8 percent expressing no opinion. The margin of error is 6 percent. (The New York Times recently did a piece on Obama's efforts to court the Jewish vote). Catholic Democrats favored Clinton 56 percent to 37 percent, with a 2 point margin of error, while Protestants favor Obama 47 percent to 44 percent, with a 2 point margin of error. Democrats with no religious preference favor Obama 54 percent to 40 percent.
They don't, however, say anything about the Orthodox, the Neopagans or the Muslims.
Hat-tip to Mainstream Baptist.
2 comments:
"They don't, however, say anything about the Orthodox, the Neopagans or the Muslims."
That's probably b/c we make up a very small minority of the population. The Orthodox, Neopagans, and Muslims of the U.S. are simply not on the radar.
My guesses are Jews favour Clinton because Obama shows signs of being less than fawning to Israel (even a bit fair to Palestine) and nominal RCs (the historically working-class Democrats) do, regrettably, because of race. His Muslim name scares them even though he's never been one.
According to the recent Pew Forum survey Orthodox are a sixth of a per cent of the US. Of course Muslim numbers are microscopic: black converts are a drop in the bucket and most Arab immigrants are Christians (getting away from the Muslims). The Neopagan made-up faiths won't take off.
The real No. 1 faiths in America are 'spiritual not religious' (blue-state liberal, the spiritual/intellectual progeny of mainline Protestantism - not the hardcore secularism of Europe) and conservative evangelical (red-state conservative).
For all her famous odiousness I understand Clinton's socially liberal Methodist faith is sincere and long-held (she was raised in that church).
I've no idea what Obama's personal faith is; I suspect if it weren't politically advantageous to belong to a church (and Jeremiah Wright's appeal to his father and identity issues) he'd be 'spiritual not religious'; they, mainline Protestants (nowhere near the authority in society they were 40 years ago on Vietnam and civil rights) and blacks (yes, because of race) are flocking to him, far from an ideal candidate but the best of the three real contenders.
Interestingly McCain and my candidate, Ron Paul, have similar religious biographies, very Protestant (un-ecclesial/individualistic) and American: moving from liturgical Protestantism (Paul was born Lutheran and passed through Episcopalianism; McCain was born Episcopalian*) to unofficially/casually attending Baptist churches.
Karl Rove marketed Bush as an evangelical but he really isn't one; more a tolerant liberal Protestant in the classic American political mould like his Episcopalian father. But I think he has an active and sincere faith; adopting his wife's Methodism helped him kick drink and drugs.
*Like in England Anglicanism was long the prestigious church for the military-officer class McCain was born into.
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