Religious Politics - by Barna

[Bob Jenkins]

The Barna Group

Politics by religion

* Born agains are more likely than are non-Christians to be registered to vote (84% to 76%, respectively). (2001)
* Among born again adults, 33% said they were Democrats, 40% Republicans, and 14% Independents. (2001)
* 71% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats, and 49% of Independents attend a Protestant church. (2001)
* 28% of Democrats, 23% of Independents, and 17% of Republicans attend a Catholic church. (2001)
* 14% of Republicans are evangelicals, compared to just 6% of Independents and 5% of Democrats. (2001)
* 59% of evangelicals and 41% of born agains maintain that when it comes to political issues they are mostly conservative, compared to just 22% of non-Christians. (2001)
* Just 4% of evangelicals and 8% of born agains report that they are mostly liberal when it comes to political issues, compared to 15% of non-Christians reporting likewise. (2001)

Politics by family status

* Republicans are more likely than any other political group to be married: 61% of Republicans are married, compared to 56% of Independents and 46% of Democrats. (2001)
* Democrats are more likely than any other political group to be single: 55% of Democrats are single, compared to 44% of Independents, and 39% of Republicans. (2001)
* In general, there are no significant differences across political party when looking at parenthood: 42% of Independents, 37% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans have children under the age of 18 living in their home. (2001)

Politics by income

* Slightly more Republicans (26%) make over $60,000 a year, than do Democrats (20%); 23% of Independents make $60,000 plus a year. (2001)
* Compared to 35% of Democrats who earn less than $30,000 a year, 30% of Independents and 24% of Republicans fit into this income bracket. (2001)

George W. Bush (January 2002 poll)

(For more information, click on the Press Release titled "Bush Scores Well With Born Agains, But Poorly With Blacks" highlighted at the right-hand side of this archive.)

* 79% of U.S. adults currently approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job (half said they approve strongly and three out of ten approve somewhat)
* Bush’s lowest overall approval ratings came from blacks (59%), atheists (66%), and Democrats (70%)
* Bush’s highest overall approval ratings came from Republicans (96%), born again Christians (86%), people 55 or older (85%), and whites (84%)
* Four out of five adults (82%) said he is doing either an "excellent" or "good" job in handling the terrorist attacks and subsequent war
* As for George W. Bush, as a person, three out of four adults (75%) have a favorable opinion the current President

When asked to rate specific qualities of Bush, here is what U.S. adults told us:

* 70% maintain he is "tough enough for the job"
* 70% said he "works hard"
* 65% maintain he is "smart enough for the job"
* 65% described him as "an effective leader"
* 63% said he is "fair"
* 63% maintain that "he gets the important things done"
* 62% said that he "uses good judgement"
* 62% feel that he "works well with other people"
* 60% said that he "communicates effectively"
* 59% describe him as “trustworthy”
* 55% maintain that he “has a real vision for the future of the U.S.”
* 50% agree with the statement he "cares about the needs of the people like you"
* 43% agree with the statement "has the same values as you"

[EvoUK]

You got stats for the numbers of people who would vote for certain groups of people as president? (ie, blacks, gays, women, atheists, jews etc). IIRC, I last saw something like that on religious tollerance- and it said most americans wouldn't vote for atheists- though the stats have improved somewhat...

Gimmie a sec, I'll find it.

[edited to add]

here it is:

"If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be a 'X' would you vote for that person?" "X" is Atheist, Baptist, Black, Catholic, Homosexual, Jewish, Mormon, and Woman. Percentage of unprejudiced adults (those answering "yes") at approximately 20 year intervals have been:

Factor 1937 1959 1978 1999
Atheist Not asked 22% 40% 49%
Baptist Not asked 94 Not asked 94
Black 37 49 77 95
Catholic 60 70 91 94
Homosexual Not asked Not asked 26 59
Jewish 46 72 82 92
Mormon Not asked Not asked 99 -
Woman 33 57 76 92

It didn't come out very well- the original poll is found here:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/amer_intol.htm

[Da Lone-Warrior]

One analysis that would be interesting to do on Barna's data is the extent that religious attitudes affect political views after controlling for economic variables.

I seem to recall an earlier finding by Barna that many "evangelical" Christians primarily vote consistent with their self-interest.

dlw