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Steven Waldman

“We worship an awesome God in the blue states,” Barack Obama declared during his 2004 Democratic convention keynote. Thunderous applause greeted that line, in part because Democrats felt frustrated that they’d been unfairly cast as a secular or even anti-religion party, and by the political dominance of religious conservatives. Tonight, Obama forged a New Democratic…

Though the economy clearly was the defining issue of the election, Obama forged a new coalition by luring millions of religious voters who had avoided Democrats in recent years. In short: He narrowed the God Gap. Bush beat Kerry among weekly church-goers by 61%-39%. McCain beat Obama 55%-43% Most of that gain appears to have…

The huge victory for Obama in Ohio reflected gains among all religious groups. He improved upon Kerry’s showing among white Catholics, Protestants in general and evangelicals. But here’s the most amazing part: Born Again Christians made up a significantly greater portion of the electorate in 2008 than in 2004 AND Obama did better than Kerry.…

Obama seems to have made far more progress with Born Again Christians in rust belt states than in the South. Based on preliminary exit polls: Florida: 78%-20% (McCain-Obama) Virginia: 78%-21% Ohio: 70%-29% Indiana: 66%-32% What’s more, Obama improved on Kerry’s showing with evangelicals in the rust belt states. Kerry got 24% in Ohio; Obama seems…

One thing that puzzles me about these numbers: Obama’s progress among Catholics is with those who don’t attend mass weekly. But among Protestants, he improved among those who do attend weekly. One possible theory: abortion. Mass-attending Catholics are more likely to care about abortion than those who go less regularly. Protestant weekly attenders, on the…

Early in the campaign, it looked like Obama would do worse among Jews than any Democrat in decades. Early exit polls indicate that instead Obama is actually doing better than John Kerry Obama is winning 78%-21%. Kerry beat Bush 74%-25%

Barack Obama had made a major effort to win white evangelicals. For several months, it looked as if his efforts were for naught. But the early exit polls show that Obama did make some progress. Bush beat Kerry 78%-21% in 2004. So far, McCain’s beating Obama 72%-26%

The rap on Obama during the primaries was that he couldn’t win because he struggled with Catholics. Apparently, he got past that. Early exit polls indicate he won 54% of the Catholic vote compared to 45% for John McCain. George W. Bush won the Catholic vote 52%-46%. He also improved among white Catholics, according to…

For several elections, Republicans have dominated among the most religious and Democrats among the secular. Based on the first wave of exit polls, Obama has narrowed the God Gap considerably, dramatically improving on John Kerry’s 2004 performance among those who attend church frequently. Bush beat Kerry among weekly church-goers by 61%-39%. McCain is beating Obama…

The folks at Catholics United, a progressive Catholic group, have been busy NOT putting fliers in church parking lots. They view that as an intrusion. Indeed, what they’ve been doing instead is making sure that flyers that do get put there are removed. A report from the group’s director Chris Korzen: “We had staff and…
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