LifeWay Research, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, has released some interesting results from its in-depth surveys of Southern Baptist pastors across the nation.
Eighty percent of Southern Baptist pastors say that they currently support and plan to vote for Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the presumptive 2008 Republican nominee for president. Conversely, only one percent expressed their intention to vote for Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and zero percent supported Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
Fifteen percent of the Southern Baptist pastors surveyed said they were still undecided about their presidential preference, while four percent said they intended to vote for a third-party candidate.
These pastor presidential preference numbers are probably skewed slightly by the fact that only pastors were surveyed, and not non-ordained church members. Over recent history, surveys have shown consistently that Southern Baptist pastors are slightly more conservative on most issues than rank-and-file church membership.
Still, these poll numbers are radically at odds with the general public, where polling shows a tight race between Senator McCain and either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton.
When it comes to presidential preference, Southern Baptists are marching to the beat of a different drum than their non-Southern Baptist neighbors.
Beliefnet
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posted May 31, 2008 at 8:25 am
I would like to see the results of the same poll among leaders of other religious groups. I think you may find that John McCain has that same or similiar lead among most religious leaders (notice I did not say all). I believe the tendency to be conservative is linked strongly to religious beliefs – now more so than ever, since political economic policy has been somewhat blended between the two major parties. Now the ideas that most separate our two parties are more moral, less economic, more social, less military, although the war in Iraq does stir military differences.
posted June 3, 2008 at 5:08 pm
This backs up exactly what I said on Huffington Post a few weeks ago based on the findings in my new book “The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church.”
True Religious Right voters are going to hold firm for Republicans. People who think the Religious Right is finished are so wrong. Once again they’ve been misled.
The Religious Right is alive and well. And basically unchanged.
But the Religious Right is not and never has been as big or as powerful as we’ve been led to believe. True Religious Right voters are 5 to 7 percent of American adults. Not 25 percent.
We’ve been duped.
The other 18 percent of self-identified Religious Right voters are swing voters. And always have been. Now they’re swinging more strongly to the Democratic side.
For more, check out my website, http://www.christinewicker.com