Evangelicals Feeling Left Out, Poll Finds

Crucial Bloc Split On GOP Options, Feels Key Issues Are Being Ignored

(CBS)  Evangelical Christian voters formed the core of President Bush’s support in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. But according to a new CBS News poll, the next Republican nominee may have a little more work ahead of him if he wants to count on this influential bloc turning out to the polls in his favor.

The survey, conducted from Oct. 12-16, found that while evangelical voters remain overwhelmingly conservative, they are largely unsatisfied with the current crop of Republican candidates, who they feel are not discussing their priorities - not gay marriage and abortion, with which evangelical voters are often identified, but issues that are also a top priority for voters overall, including the war in Iraq and health care.

Among white evangelical registered voters, 23 percent want to hear presidential candidates discuss health care, while 20 percent want them to talk about the war in Iraq. Both figures are only slightly lower than the overall population of registered voters. Abortion and same-sex marriage were at the bottom of the list for both groups.

In what could be an ominous signal for the Republicans running for president, white evangelicals - whose political views are typically more conservative than those of black evangelicals - feel that Democrats, not Republicans, are paying more attention to their top issues. Twenty-four percent said Democrats are talking about their top issue, compared to only 10 percent who said the same about Republicans. But Democrats should not get too excited about this figure - 35 percent of white evangelicals said neither party is addressing their top concern.

Given those results, it is not surprising that white evangelicals are split on whether the GOP field is satisfactory, with 51 percent saying they wish there were more choices, while 44 percent said they were satisfied with their options.

Still, these voters are not reluctant to take sides - only 3 percent of them said they were undecided when asked who, among the Republicans running, they would like to see nominated. Fred Thompson, who officially entered the race in September, led the way with 29 percent support. He was trailed closely by Rudy Giuliani at 26 percent. John McCain came in third at 15 percent. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were effectively tied for fourth place, at 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

These numbers did not vary significantly from the overall pool of Republican primary voters, with two exceptions: Thompson ran better among evangelical voters by 8 percent, while Romney, whose Mormon faith is controversial with some born-again Christians, saw his support among evangelicals lag behind that of all Republican primary voters by 5 percent.

Evangelicals appear conflicted when it comes to Giuliani, who leads in national polls and is gaining strength in the key early primary state of New Hampshire. Giuliani supports abortion rights and, during his tenure as New York City mayor, supported expanding the rights of gays and lesbians - positions evangelical voters overwhelmingly oppose. Only 29 percent of white evangelical voters said they could vote for a candidate that disagrees with them on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Yet, when asked about Giuliani specifically, these same voters seem more flexible. Sixty-one percent of white evangelicals said they would at least consider voting for Giuliani if he were the Republican nominee in 2008, with 29 percent saying they would “definitely” vote for him. Only 17 percent said there was no way they would vote for Giuliani, while 22 percent said it was too early to judge. And 61 percent of white evangelicals said they would vote for a candidate with less conservative views than them in the general election if they believed that candidate would win.

But the biggest problem facing Giuliani or any other potential Republican nominee may be one of enthusiasm. In Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign, his organization focused on bringing evangelical voters to the polls. For a self-identified born-again Christian like Mr. Bush, this may have been a relatively easy sell. However, the top-tier Republican candidates are not viewed as particularly religious by white evangelicals, a problem Bush did not face.

No more than 35 percent of white evangelicals believe that either Giuliani, Romney, McCain or Thompson have strong religious beliefs. Giuliani and Thompson scored particularly low on this question - only 15 percent believe that Giuliani is strongly religious, compared to 13 percent for Thompson. Those numbers are a bad sign for the GOP field, especially when one considers that 84 percent of white evangelicals consider it at least somewhat important that the candidate they vote for shares their religious beliefs, with 39 percent saying it was “very important.”

The one thing the eventual Republican nominee will clearly have working in his favor, at least when it comes to getting evangelical voters to the polls, is party identification: 57 percent of white evangelicals identify as Republican, while 58 percent define themselves as conservative.

Click here to view the complete poll results.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,282 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone October 12-16, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. 312 interviews were conducted with white evangelicals, and 283 with white evangelicals who are registered to vote. The margin of error for those subgroups is plus or minus six percentage points.

[starleo146]

awwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa GEEEEEEEEEEE WHIZZZZZZZZ

[jmd0116-2009]

Thank God for this. As a lifetime Republican I have been waiting for us to finally get a grip. They are the most sickening, self-righteous group. Republicans are supposed to be about freedom and lack of government.We figured out a long time ago that personal freedom is what it is all about. We are not a party that is supposed to be about control and ideology. It is truly difficult to respect these people, but at the end of the day I rationalize that I should respect them and their lifestyle & beliefs because they are entitled to live how they want. This is an especially tough pill to swallow considering they judge and hate EVERYONE who isn''t a bible toting believer.

I would love to see Rudy win the primary, win the election, reach out and get things done with the Democrats (like he did in NYC) and then, in 8 years the Republican party suddenly realizes - "Hey, we acted like normal, moderate, well intentioned people. A lot of people like us now - maybe we don''t need those evangelicals AT ALL". One can dream.

[alanrobisch]

Well, after all, if religion is kept out of the "res publica" it is good for our nation.


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Posted by adian1 at 07:18 AM : Oct 21, 2007

Baloney if atheists are in the mix we can see the society it has wrought with a million abortions a year,

[prinzowhales]

Education is "pre-propaganda". It prepares the individual to accept future propaganda lies. If anyone is foolish enough to think that education is going to save this country from anything more serious than the dis-employment of teachers, they have another thing coming.

America has vomited forth more PhDs, Masters etc, etc than any other nation. What has this brought us? Look at Fascist Washington! Bloody ninnying Americans...You should have your noses rubbed in it!!
Nothing can save you from your lack of moral courage and decency...your want of honour...your gluttonous, characterless selves!

[adian1-2009]

Poetic justice! The most unexpected irony for the fundamentalist-conservative-right! The guy who have hurt them the most is the one they managed to make president! Good! Get some of your own poisoning medication! Well, after all, if religion is kept out of the "res publica" it is good for our nation.

[grazinggoat]

Left behind ? These fruitcakes need to be left out !
Posted by tejasdemo at 11:37 AM : Oct 19, 2007

-They should be dumped in the time trash...

[cantshutup]

EVANGELICALS STAY HOME IN 2008!! YOU SCUMMARDS GAVE US BUSH FOR TWO TERMS...I THINK EVANGELICALS HAVE DONE ENOUGH TO DESTROY AMERICA...STAY HOME AND WAIT FOR THE RAPTURE YOU DUMBF*CKTARDS!!!! RACIST! HOMOPHOBIC!! PEDIFILES! LIARS! HYPOCRITS!!! EVANGELICALS DO THE DEVIL''S WORK FOR JESUS!!!

[nmsuip]

What''s the difference between Elvis & a smart Republican?

Elvis has been sighted.

[sftodd]

Isn''t about time they were leaving anyway? Don''t they have some Rapture to be going to?

[glaswolf]

It''s a Euphrates problem: as with judism, catholic-christian and moslem philosophies believe everyone is under the aegis of their god, so they don''t feel we have a right to deny their god''s rule over us. Teutonic Christians are different, "do what works" as embedded in the protestant work ethic is not within logical closure of the kosher based systems, eg papal bulls and mullahs dictate place conceptual constraints. "Que functionen" of indian work ethics provides authority for actions, whereas the Teutonic "do what works" commands a choice. I would that the American Teutonic Evangelicals support Edwards, they can work with his moderacy to stablize middle class families and preserve their euro mediterranean micro civilizations within the contiguous 48.

[kansas1946]

Much of Christian (far) Right''''s posturing is based on fear and ignorance. Their primary power base is in a part of the country that welcomes social change reluctantly if at all. Many of them are busy enough getting on with the business of survival that they have no time, let alone energy, to do any independant thinking. So strong and inflexible moral absolutes absolves them the responsibility of thought and inquiry. Posted by LloydBest1
**********************

Lloyd, you are so right. Education is the enemy of fanaticism. Of course, groups that are controlled by these spit-slinging preachers are terrified of education, because that same preacher has told them that the public schools are full of atheists and Satanists who will try and steal their children''s minds. Ignorance is a despots best insurance policy.

[kansas1946]

A quote from a Religious Righter..

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don''''''''t want equal time. We don''''''''t want pluralism."
--Randall Terry, The News Sentinel, (Ft. Wayne, IN.), 8/16/93

hmmm sounds kind of like a muslim if you ask me.......same hate and zealous quest for power.
Posted by simonsez40 at 09:08 AM : Oct 19, 2007

******************************
Simon. Exactly. These nuts, and Randall Terry is a perfect example, are normally left at the fringes of our society and not given much attention. This is what happens when you give them credibility. The Republican party gave these raving lunitcs credibility just to get votes, and now the beast has gotten away from them. This guy is no different from a radical mullah.

[homjett]

I think if Gov. Romney was anything but a Morman, he would be leading in the National Polls. I would like to see a Romney/Huckabee ticket. I believe Romney is the right man for bringing the country together, he has provent that he can work with folks of all stripes. What he accomplished with the Olympics is a impressive story. In this time in history, being a Morman should not matter. I think we have some folks in Congress that are Mormans, even a Muslim.

[ioweign]

A quote from a Religious Righter..

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don''''t want equal time. We don''''t want pluralism."
--Randall Terry, The News Sentinel, (Ft. Wayne, IN.), 8/16/93

hmmm sounds kind of like a muslim if you ask me.......same hate and zealous quest for power.


Posted by simonsez40 at 09:08 AM : Oct 19, 2007



I call them the American Taliban.

[ksjeff-2009]

The wingnuts need their own party. Then that party will siphon off enough votes from the Republican nominee that he will lose, and the Dems will have it. If it wasn''t for that G.D. idiot Nader, Kerry would be president now, and Bush would be back in Crawford with horsesh*t on his boots.

[cdfoxtrot]

"Evangelicals Feeling Left Out, Poll Finds". Well boo, hoo. Now maybe they know how the rest of us have felt since, oh, the mid-90s, when their extremist views began to be heard and implemented in Washington.

[presronpaul]

Aw, do the wittle crazy intolerent "Christians" get their feelings hurt?

[antoniof123]

Posted by Hwy71So at 11:37 AM : Oct 19, 2007

I don''t know where you live but in Florida we have the castle law and we can use our guns to defend ourselves. So instead of blaming us liberals and I am now for sure (I also have a few guns including my personal faviorte a Glock) blame yourself for allowing the laws. The NRA are a bunch of nut cases that do nothing except support the GOP and make more of a mess for us gun owners. I say everyone should be trained and if the NRA won''t do it then I and a few other dads will.

Thank you but no thank you any longer.

[antoniof123]

LloydBest1 I used to believe the same way you do but time has changed me. You can not reason with them they just won''t allow it. In fact their ministers teach them how to not be reasoned with. They teach them to call others names belittle others and say that they will burn in hell.

I no longer am patience with them. In fact now when they try to give me their are you going to heaven or hell speech. I tell them hell and if they don''t leave me a lone I will make sure that I take them with me. Most of the time it works but sometimes I have to get a little louder with them. Use your imagination as to what needs to be done.

[rayuk-2009]

Evangelicals should have a draft Ted Haggard for president strategy. He is perfect because his values and truthfulness mirrors theirs exactly. Go Ted!