(Photo: AP/Jae C. Hong)Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, left, shakes hands with supporters at a town hall style meeting in Powder Springs, Ga., Tuesday, July 8, 2008.
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Presidential candidate Barack Obama has stronger support among less religious Americans than rival John McCain, a survey revealed.
The survey, conducted by The Gallup Poll and released Tuesday, found 55 percent of Americans who say religion is not important in their life backed Obama, compared to 36 percent for McCain. The reverse was true for Americans who said religion was important in their life, with 50 percent to 40 percent preferring McCain over Obama.
This correlation is most clearly seen in the segment of Americans who are white and identify themselves as either Protestant or some other non-Catholic Christian tradition. Among these believers, McCain beats Obama by a 36-point margin, 63 percent to 27 percent. The two candidates were essentially tied among those in this group who say religion is not important in their life, with McCain at 46 percent and 45 percent for Obama.
But exceptions to the correlation between religiosity and support for Republican McCain occur among Hispanic Catholics and black non-Catholic Christians. Among white Hispanic Catholics, Obama beat McCain by a large margin even among those who said religion is important in their life.
Obama received 57 percent support among religious Hispanic Catholics, compared to McCain’s 31 percent. The Illinois senator, who is vying to be the first black U.S. president, won by an even larger margin among those that said religion is not important in their life, 63 percent to 30 percent.
Preference for Obama over McCain was even more dramatic among black non-Catholic Christians. Ninety percent of this group’s religious voters supported Obama, versus 4 percent for McCain. The number was slightly raised among the group’s non-religious voters, with 92 percent for Obama and four percent supporting McCain.
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The finding that religious voters prefer a Republican candidate is not new. Evangelical Christians, who are viewed as highly religious, have traditionally been stalwart voters of the Republican Party – although that idea is being challenged this election year.
Younger and moderate evangelicals have been more open to Obama’s candidacy than in past elections towards a Democratic contender. Many find his emphasis on social justice issues such as poverty and Darfur appealing. The Obama campaign has also aggressively courted religious voters with initiatives explaining how Obama plans to put his faith into action.
Experts have predicted that Obama could gain as much as 30 to 40 percent of the evangelical vote this fall.
The Gallup poll for this survey questioned 95,000 registered voters from March through June of this year.
