According to a new gallop poll, 64% of registered voters say their religious beliefs will help shape their vote for president in 2004. 36% say it will not.
30% of urban voters say religion will dictate their votes, compared to 41% of suburban voters and 64% or rural voters (Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, December 10, 2003).
In an earlier survey by the Pew Research Center, 56% of voters who attended religious services once a week said they planned to vote for Bush in 2004. 44% said they were planning to vote for a Democrat.
Are Democratic candidates for president at a disadvantage in making a connection between personal faith and public life?
In the history of the United States, there have been 11 Episcopalians, 9 Presbyterians, 4 Methodists, 4 Baptists, 4 Unitarians, 3 Disciples of Christ, 2 Dutch Remormed, 2 Quakers, 1 Catholic, and 1 Congregationalist/United Church of Christ presidents.
Major religious groups in the U.S. which have never had a U.S. president include: Lutherans, Jews, Latter-day Saints, Pentecostals, Muslims, Eastern Orthodox, and Churches of Christ (Religious Affiliation of U.S. Presidents, Adherents.com, 2004)
Of the eight Democratic nominees for president in 2004, three are Catholics (Braun, Clark, and Kerry) and the remaining are Baptist (Gephardt), Methodist (Edwards), Congregationalist (Dean), Pentecostal (Sharpton), and practicing Jew (Lieberman).
Incumbent Republican president George W. Bush is a Methodist.
Are we ready for a Pentecostal or a practicing Jew? Or, for that matter, are we ready for another Congregationalist?
According to Cal Thomas, Democratic candidate Howard Dean has found Jesus. [The last and only Congregationalist president to date was Calvin Coolidge.]
Just how much does religious affiliation matter?