My suspicions, per yesterday’s post, appear correct: evangelicals remain by and large much in love with the Republican party.  In fact, they voted for a Mormon candidate, Romney, at the same, high levels of enthusiastic support that they showed in support of their evangelical co-religionist, George W. Bush, in the 1990’s.

At his blog, “Spiritual Politics,” Trinity College Professor of Religion and Public Life Mark Silk has provided a helpful summary of the results of exit polls here.  These show that evangelicals favored Mitt Romney over Barack Obama “at Bushian levels” of 78-21.  The same trend in evangelical voting patterns in the 1990’s prevailed. While Catholics “broke ranks” for Obama by a narrow margin, we evangelicals were stalwart in our Republican sentiments.

Notably, the other demographic group I follow, the so-called “Nones” for whom I’m also writing Grace Sticks: The Bumper Sticker Gospel for Restless Souls, showed an almost identical reversal in their voting for Obama over Romney (70-26).

[Note: I have chosen not to publish the survey results that Ralph Reed’s group, Faith and Freedom, presented yesterday at the National Press Club (see yesterday’s post).  The objectivity of such a study, in light of the aggressive lobbying efforts of Faith and Freedom to rally Christians to vote Republican, seems questionable.]