Religion and Politics

Worship Rudy Less, Like Him More
Thursday, July 26, 2007

A new Gallup Poll attempts to measure the impact of faith on the presidential election, and finds that religious Republicans are less likely to consider Rudy Giuliani their top choice. In fact, Giuliani's greatest support in his party comes from those who never attend church. Among those who attend regularly Giuliani still leads but by just a few points over the as-yet-undeclared Fred Thompson.

The poll also finds Hillary Clinton's popularity extends across all types of worship. Within her party she holds a significant lead across all levels of church attendance. In a head-to-head match-up between Giuliani and Clinton churchgoers do favor Rudy, though those who do not attend prefer Hillary by a good margin.

The full poll is here.
Posted by John DeSio at 8:50 AM
tags: nypress, new york, 2008, polls, rudy giuliani, hillary clinton, fred thompson

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The data does not look as bad as the article portrays. Rudy still leads in every category only less so amongst the "regular attendance" category. What it clearly shows is that Fred Thompson, upon actually entering the race will quickly take the lead in the "regular attendance" crowd of republican voters which if one can judge by past voting preference, is heavily weighted to the religious attendance crowd.

{see Churchgoing closely tied to voting patterns}



The Republican chances of winning the White House in 2008 with a lame duck president pushing all-time disapproval numbers are debatable. Running a candidate who is distant from the base of the party and who will not ignite a flame of passionate campaigning by much of the activist base of the party is a recipe for electorial disaster.

Rudy does not fare very well amongst those who do not attend religious services often, (these likely being dyed in the wool democrats) and only loses to Hillary (if the poll can be trusted) in this category. What the poll does not do is weigh the numbers in each category. At least the polling data confirms that the godless love the Clintons.