Feiler Faster

Feiler Faster

God the Loser in ’08 Election

posted by bfeiler | 5:50pm Friday September 7, 2007

So far, God seems to be the big loser in the ’08 election. Defying every prognostication, the candidates leading in the polls — Rudy and Hillary — are viewed as the least religious. And the “most religious” candidate on the scene these days, not Bush, but Romney. Maybe his ploy to say that being religious is more important than what you believe is working. Or maybe his ploy to be as vague as possible has yet to come home to roost. If I were an Evangelical Republican, I would be concerned that Romney has not addressed the hard questions about the role his faith plays in politics and would fear that it won’t come out until after he’s gotten the nomination.

Among people who offer an opinion of the religiosity of leading Democrats, more say that John Edwards (28%) and Barack Obama (24%) are very religious pew08.gifthan say the same about Hillary Clinton (16%). Yet wide majorities see all three as at least somewhat religious, and those who do view the candidates in overwhelmingly favorable terms.
Similarly, just 14% who offer an opinion see Rudy Giuliani as very religious, but another 63% see him as somewhat religious, and both groups offer comparably favorable assessments of the former New York City mayor. Mitt Romney stands apart from the other candidates tested – nearly half (46%) of those who express an opinion say Romney is very religious; that is roughly the same number saying that George W. Bush is very religious (43%), though many more people express an opinion about Bush’s religiosity than Romney’s. However, a quarter of Americans – Democrat, independent and Republican alike – say they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who is Mormon. And those who say this have substantially less favorable impressions of Mitt Romney.
In general, being a Mormon is viewed as far less of a liability for a presidential candidate than not believing in God or being a Muslim. Roughly six-in-ten Americans (61%) say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who does not believe in God, while 45% say they would be reluctant to vote for a Muslim. At the same time, more people express reservations about voting for a Mormon (25%) than about supporting a candidate who is an evangelical Christian (16%), a Jew (11%) or a Catholic (7%).



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Comments read comments(6)
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Elvis Elvisberg

posted September 7, 2007 at 5:55 pm


To me, this poll only makes sense in the context of other polls that show that very few people are paying attention this early in the race. Clinton is in fact quite religious– ask David Kuo. This poll is about how uninformed people are at this point, not about what candidates are really like.



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Drina

posted September 9, 2007 at 12:53 am


Considering how the “religious” folks run things, I think electing a less fervent president would be good for us. And the rest of the world.



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Charles Cosimano

posted September 9, 2007 at 1:22 pm


We can live a good, long time without a President who thinks that God wants us to do what that President wants.



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Pax4evr

posted September 10, 2007 at 4:01 pm


I believe it is quite presumptuous for anyone to attempt to evaluate anyone else’s “religiousity” — because it becomes just that: a facade! No one knows the deeper regions of anyone else’s heart except God. For anyone else to presume to be able to do so would be “heresy” of the highest order. We don’t need a “SHOW” of religion, we need action that is based on Godly principles. That would surely not mean waging an unust war as Bush, the Republicans and even the Democrats has allowed this country to do — slip into the miry clay of demagoguery, elitism,imperialism. There is nothing Godly about destroying another country for the price of oil and camflaging it to the American public by assigning it to retribution for 911. To fight Sadam is like killing the cousin for a crime committed by someone else and doing so in the name of religion, thinking the American public is stupid enough to swallow that — and most times it did. But we have to be reminded that 1) our Bible tells us to go into our secret closet to pray — go and extrapolate that! 2) Turn the other check and do good to our enemies — that’s the Christ-like way! and 3) both Old and New Testaments carry the adage that “Vengence is mine, saith the Lord. I will replay.”



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Jim

posted September 10, 2007 at 7:18 pm


This looks like one of those polls that tries to measure the unmeasurable, using a term “religious” that is itself hard to define objectively. Does it mean regular church attendance? Regular prayer? Fruitful prayer? Humble prayer? An awareness of God or mere belief? Obedience to a set of rules set forth by a particular denomination, or a personal striving to learn more about God without being told what to think? It makes the head spin if you really analyze the question.



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mike

posted September 19, 2007 at 3:12 am


I thought we were fighting a war to free the people in the middle east from the religious persecution imposed by Islam.
This has been the most offensive of any American President, pushing off his religion like he know it was the only way.
I hope we get a competent leader in office. As long as he does his religious gig on his own time, I’m gonna be happy. We need someone who will deal with health care, the infrastructure, The buying of the country by lobbyists, crooks in office, elderly problems, doesn’t anybody get it??? Global warming, shortages of food and water coming, over-population, the last gasp of oil as we suck the well dry..get it? Got it? Shake the cobwebs out and wake up to reality. We got work to do in this country and all everyone worrys about is gays and making more $$. Ther constitution is under attack.
Are you proud? I am not proud. I am sad. We are killing and destroying innocent people. God must be very proud of us. Does he hear our prayers now? Would you?



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