“Aside from race, the so-called ‘pew gap’ continues to be the largest difference between the different candidates’ supporters.”
— James Tonkowich, IRD President
Washington, DC—Evangelicals and other Protestant voters appear to have continued their party voting preferences in the Presidential election from recent years, according to exit polls released following Tuesday’s voting.
Exit polling released through CNN appears to have confirmed pre-election polls, with significant gaps between the candidates’ support among voters categorized by both frequency of church attendance and religious affiliation. In the exit polling, White Protestant voters went 65 percent for McCain as did 52 percent of White Catholics. Overall, those Christians who attended any church on a weekly basis went for McCain by 55 percent, while Protestants who attended church on a weekly basis went for McCain by 65 percent.
The most decisive gap was amongst those voters who described themselves as White Evangelical/Born-Again. This group went 74 percent for McCain while 24 percent went for Obama, roughly mirroring their preferences from the 2004 Presidential Election.
IRD President James Tonkowich commented:
Aside from race, the so-called ‘pew gap’ continues to be the largest difference between the different candidates’ supporters.
The Obama campaign made a strong effort to reach Evangelical voters this year, and those voters no doubt appreciated the attention and respect they received. That being said, their final decision at the top of the ticket was strikingly similar to the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns.
Frequency of church attendance seems to trump religious affiliation in many instances. White Protestant Christians voted by strong margins for Senator McCain, regardless of if they described themselves as ‘Born Again.’
Among Evangelicals, exit polls show little improvement in support for Obama over John Kerry, and Obama did less well than Bill Clinton, who attracted over one-third of Evangelicals in his campaigns.
Despite some Evangelical leaders’ attempts to shift attention from traditional social issues to what they term a ‘broadening agenda’, there has been no significant difference in Evangelical support between the 2004 election and the 2008 election.”
The Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches’ social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad
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