Poll: Evangelicals May Double Their Support for Obama in 2012 Election
By _Napp Nazworth_ (http://www.christianpost.com/author/napp-nazworth/) ,
Christian Post Reporter
April 4, 2012|2:40 pm
In the 2012 presidential election, President _Barack Obama_
(http://www.christianpost.com/topics/barack-obama/) could double the amount of
support he
got from _evangelicals_ (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/evangelicals/)
in the 2008 election, according to Barna Group, a Christian polling
organization.
In 2008, Obama received the support of about 11 percent of evangelicals,
according to Barna Group. In a March 14-21 Barna Group poll of 647 likely
voters, twice as many evangelicals, 22 percent, said they were prepared to
vote for Obama.
Barna categorizes "evangelical" more narrowly than most other polling
organizations. Many polls simply include self-identifiers – those who say, when
asked, that they are evangelical or born-again.
Under Barna's classification, an evangelical is one who says they have made
a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and that commitment remains
important to them, and shares seven beliefs common among evangelicals, such as
the
existence of Satan and that eternal salvation comes through grace, not
works. Using this measure of evangelical, Barna found that evangelicals
comprise seven percent of the population and 10 percent of likely voters.
Though Obama appears to be gaining the support of evangelicals, the
enthusiasm levels of those supporters remain low. Only three to five percent of
evangelicals said they would "definitely" vote for him, while 53-58 percent
of evangelicals said they would "definitely" support the Republican
challenger.
Among religious skeptics, defined as atheists and agnostics, Obama receives
strong support. Against Mitt Romney, the likely Republican nominee, Obama
would likely receive the support of about 70 percent of this group if the
election were held now. Religious skeptics would also comprise 11 percent of
the
electorate, about the same as evangelicals.
Barna Group cautions, though, about reading too much into the results. The
election is not until November and the Republican nominee has not been
chosen.
"Without the Republican candidate having been selected yet, and with three
months of the major party candidates bashing each other after the upcoming
party conventions, much could change before November 6. However, a few
early indicators were flagged as factors to watch during the coming months,"
Barna Group writes.
The poll's margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.
Christian author George Barna founded Barna Group and is currently working
with the Newt Gingrich campaign. He sold his majority share of Barna Group
in 2009 and is no longer involved in its operation.
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