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TechnoratiNot only did African-American and Hispanic voters vote overwhelmingly for now president-elect Barack Obama, but they did so with nearly no discrepancy between born-again and non-born again voters, a new survey shows.
There was no statistically significant difference between black born again voters and black non-born again voters, according to the Barna report titled “How People of Faith Voted in the 2008 Presidential Race,” which was released Monday.
Similarly, there was no noteworthy distinction in candidate preference between Hispanic born agains and Hispanic non-born again voters.
Obama received more than 90 percent of the African-American vote and three-quarters of the Hispanic vote.
“[E]thnic voters flexed their muscle and came away with a win. Who would have suspected that African-Americans and Hispanics would have forged a bulletproof alliance?” commented George Barna, who directed the election research.
“But they did this time around, and if Senator Obama fulfills his promise and his promises, then 2008 might have birthed a very significant new voting bloc for the future - one that is already 30 percent of the population and growing."
In terms of the white vote, Obama won slightly more than four out of ten voters in this demographic.
There was a significant difference between born-again voters and those not born again among whites.
White born-again voters chose Republican rival Sen. John McCain by a 73 to 26 percent margin. In comparison, non-born again voters chose Sen. Obama by a 56 to 39 percent margin.
White voters were more likely to say that their voting decision was influenced by candidates’ moral positions and political experiences than other voters.
The Barna Group distinguishes between the term “born again Christians” and “evangelicals.”
A born-again Christian is defined as someone who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and also believes that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.
To qualify to be an evangelical, the Barna survey requires someone to fulfill the born again criteria plus seven other conditions including asserting that the Bible is accurate in all its teachings; believing that salvation is only through grace, not works; and believing that they have a personal responsibility to share their faith about Christ with non-Christians.
Evangelicals, according to the strict Barna definition, only make up seven percent of all American adults.
Looking at the evangelical vote, not much changed between the 2008 election and the 2004 election, according to the Barna survey.
In total, 88 percent of registered evangelicals voted for Republican candidate John McCain, compared to just 11 percent for Sen. Obama. The 88 percent is statistically identical to the 85 percent of evangelicals who backed George W. Bush in 2004.
The primary reason evangelicals cited for supporting their candidate was moral issues (40 percent), then political experience (23 percent), and next, character (15 percent).
Overall, born-again adults were relatively closely split between the two candidates, with 57 percent favoring McCain and 42 percent casting their ballot for Obama. Continue »
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