Barna on the 2008 Election

Regarding politics, I am a conservative, independent voter who wishes Ron Paul had won the presidential election. However, I am still interested in who was victorious last week. I am always intrigued by what groups vote what way, and why they do so.

Pollster George Barna has published some interesting findings related to the 2008 presidential election. These include:

"Evangelicals chose their candidate on a different set of indicators than did other voters. When asked their primary reason for supporting the candidate they selected, 40% of evangelicals said it was because of the candidate’s position on moral issues. Only 9% of other voters listed that as their driving reason. Other significant reasons for evangelical voters included their candidate’s political experience (23%) and his character (15%)."

"Non-Christians provided Sen. Obama with a lopsided 62% to 36% margin of preference over Sen. McCain. That 26-point gap surpassed the 20-point margin the group provided to John Kerry in 2004 and the 15-point margin awarded to Al Gore in 2000. This shift came primarily from those non-born again adults who have moderate social and political views."

"Three-fourths of atheists and agnostics (76%) gave their vote to Sen. Obama, while only 23% backed Sen. McCain. That is a step up from the level of support Democrats have previously received from skeptics. In 2004, 64% of atheists and agnostics voted for Democratic challenger John Kerry."

"About 5% of America’s adult population associates with faiths other than Christianity (e.g., Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.). Within this group, about half (47%) were registered as Democrats, 30% were independent, and one-quarter (23%) were Republicans. The ballots of this group were most often cast for Barack Obama (62%) rather than John McCain (36%). The support provided to the Democratic candidate is identical to the backing this group provided to John Kerry four years ago (61%). "

"Assessing the voting outcomes by race and faith, the survey showed that there were no statistically significant differences between black born again voters and black non-born again voters. Similarly, there were no meaningful distinctions in candidate preference between Hispanic born agains and Hispanic non-born again voters. Overall, Sen. Obama claimed more than 90% of the African-American vote and three-quarters of the Hispanic vote. He won just 41% of the white vote. Among white voters, faith had a significant correlation with their candidate selection. White born again voters chose Sen. McCain by a 73% to 26% outcome. Whites who were not born again chose Sen. Obama by a 56% to 39% margin. White voters were also more affected by their understanding the candidates’ moral positions and political experience than were other voters. "

"Among voters who had a favorable view of Wicca, Sen. Obama was the favored candidate 64% to 35%. "

If you would like to read Barna's article in full, click here.