Republican Party ever more Christian
• Wearisome Bedfellows
Shifting alignment of religious and political party affiliation:
One shift noted in the survey was among people identified as white evangelical Protestants. In 1987 and 1988, they were split fairly evenly along party lines, with 34 percent calling themselves Republican and 31 percent Democrats. But in the recent poll, 43 percent said they were Republicans compared with 22 percent who identified themselves as Democrats.
White Roman Catholics, once considered loyal Democrats, now appear more evenly divided. In the late 1980s, 41 percent of such Catholics identified themselves as Democrats and 24 percent as Republicans. Today, the division is 31 percent Democrat and 29 percent Republican.
One hopeful note:
"What we are seeing now is apathy," said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America. "Christians feel now that our man is in the White House and he'll be re-elected, and so we don't have to go out to vote."
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune: Key religious voting blocs shifting allegiances