GOP's Hold on Evangelicals Weakening
By Alan Cooperman
The Washington Post
Friday 06 October 2006
Party's showing in midterm elections may be hurt as polls indicate support dropping in base.
Anoka, Minn. - Lynn Sunde, an evangelical Christian, is considering what for her is a radical step. Come November, she may vote for a Democrat for Congress.
Sunde, 35, manages a coffee shop and attends a nondenominational Bible church. "You're never going to agree with one party on everything, so for me the key has always been the religion issues - abortion, the marriage amendment" to ban same-sex unions, she said.
That means she consistently votes Republican. But, she said, she is starting to worry about the course of the Iraq war, and she finds the Internet messages from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to teenage boys "pretty sickening." When she goes into the voting booth this time, she said, "I'm going to think twice.... I'm not going to vote party line as much as to vote issues."
Even a small shift in the loyalty of conservative Christian voters such as Sunde could spell trouble for the GOP this fall. In 2004, white evangelical or born-again Christians made up a quarter of the electorate, and 78 percent of them voted Republican, according to exit polls. But some pollsters believe that evangelical support for the GOP peaked two years ago and that what has been called the "God gap" in politics is shrinking.
A nationwide poll of 1,500 registered voters released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of white evangelicals are inclined to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterm elections, a 21-point drop in support among this critical part of the GOP base.
Even before the Foley scandal, the portion of white evangelicals with a "favorable" impression of the Republican Party had fallen sharply this year, from 63 percent to 54 percent, according to Pew polls.
In the latest survey, taken in the last 10 days of September and the first four days of October, the percentage of evangelicals who think that Republicans govern "in a more honest and ethical way" than Democrats has plunged to 42 percent, from 55 percent at the start of the year.
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Even Fundies Are Abandoning Their President
"Democrats on target to take control of the Senate"
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Opposition Democrats are reaping a surge in popularity ahead of key US elections next month on the back of a congressional sex scandal that has left Republican leaders reeling, according to polls.
But President George W. Bush has again given his backing to House of Representatives speaker Dennis Hastert who has faced calls for his resignation over the party leadership's handling of the scandal.
Polls released by Time magazine and USA Today indicated that the Democrats are now taking potentially decisive leads in opinion polls ahead of the November 7 mid-term election for the Senate, House of Representatives and several state governerships.
Time said its poll suggested a scandal over lurid e-mails and instant text messages sent by former representative Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) to teenage Congressional pages had "dented" Republican hopes of retaining control of the Senate and House after November 7.
It said almost 80 percent of the 1,002 people it asked this week were aware of the scandal and believe Republican leaders tried to cover it up. One quarter said it made them less likely to vote Republican in the election.
Among registered voters, 54 percent said they were more likely to vote Democrat and 39 percent favoured Republican. Time said the margin has jumped 11 percentage points from a similar poll in June.
A USA Today/Gallup poll of six key states indicated that Democrats were on target to take control of the Senate in the election as the number of Republican-held seats where the Democrat could win has grown.
more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061006/pl ... 1006200935
But President George W. Bush has again given his backing to House of Representatives speaker Dennis Hastert who has faced calls for his resignation over the party leadership's handling of the scandal.
Polls released by Time magazine and USA Today indicated that the Democrats are now taking potentially decisive leads in opinion polls ahead of the November 7 mid-term election for the Senate, House of Representatives and several state governerships.
Time said its poll suggested a scandal over lurid e-mails and instant text messages sent by former representative Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) to teenage Congressional pages had "dented" Republican hopes of retaining control of the Senate and House after November 7.
It said almost 80 percent of the 1,002 people it asked this week were aware of the scandal and believe Republican leaders tried to cover it up. One quarter said it made them less likely to vote Republican in the election.
Among registered voters, 54 percent said they were more likely to vote Democrat and 39 percent favoured Republican. Time said the margin has jumped 11 percentage points from a similar poll in June.
A USA Today/Gallup poll of six key states indicated that Democrats were on target to take control of the Senate in the election as the number of Republican-held seats where the Democrat could win has grown.
more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061006/pl ... 1006200935
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Barbara Fitzpatrick
- Posts: 2232
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Maybe - but the Rs still have 4 weeks and much more money. And they are past masters at sliming opponents and stealing elections. We are not only going to need "ready rooms" to respond to attacks, but observers at all polling places to pull off the change in Congress that might (maybe) restore the freedoms to America the recent torture bill stole.
Barbara Fitzpatrick