{"id":86609,"date":"2005-02-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-02-03T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2005\/02\/03\/religion-and-the-2004-election-a-post-election-analysis\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:14:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:14:53","slug":"religion-and-the-2004-election-a-post-election-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2005\/02\/03\/religion-and-the-2004-election-a-post-election-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion and the 2004 Election: A Post-Election Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The close 2004 presidential election produced increased polarization between and within religious communities, according to a new poll conducted by The University of Akron&#8217;s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion &amp; Public Life, was conducted in November and December 2004.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Titled &#8220;Religion and the 2004 Election: A Post-Election Analysis&#8221;, the poll included 2,730 respondents originally surveyed the previous spring.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The findings of the survey include:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"text wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mainline Protestants, considered a strong Republican constituency, divided their votes evenly between President George W. Bush and challenger John Kerry, producing the highest level of support for a Democratic presidential candidate in recent times from that religious group.<\/li>\n<li>Modernist Protestants (78%) and Catholics (69%) strongly supported Kerry, increasing their votes and turnout for the Democrat (71% and 70%, respectively) over 2000.<\/li>\n<li>The Democratic Party candidate gained ground among voters who were unaffiliated with major religions compared to 2000 (up 5 percentage points to 72%), but the turnout of those voters remained unchanged (52%).<\/li>\n<li>The Republican incumbent&#8217;s biggest gain came among Latino Protestants (63%), who moved from the Democratic column in 2000 to the Republican column in 2004.<\/li>\n<li>Non-Latino Catholics, once a bedrock Democratic constituency, gave a majority of their votes (53%) to the Republican Party incumbent. This gain was due primarily to increased support among traditionalist Catholics, but President Bush also won the crucial swing group of centrist Catholics (55%).<\/li>\n<li>Black Protestants (17%) and Latino Catholics (31%) supported Bush more than in 2000, but remained solidly Democratic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign policy and economic priorities were far more important to the overall vote than social issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage. However, social issues were more important to Bush&#8217;s religious constituencies. In contrast, economic issues were more important to Kerry&#8217;s constituencies.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nationwide survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Both President Bush and Sen. Kerry benefited from strong support among key religious constituencies,&#8221; explains Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute. &#8220;Yet there was strong polarization not only between different religions as was common in the past, but also within the major religious traditions, a relatively new phenomenon.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2004\/09\/09\/religion-and-the-2004-election-a-pre-election-analysis\/\">Read the pre-election survey<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The close 2004 presidential election produced increased polarization between and within religious communities, according to a new poll conducted by The University of Akron&#8217;s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. The Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion &amp; Public Life, was conducted in November and December 2004. 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