This most recent selection from National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" mentions the work of my firm, Public Religion Research, noting the positive shift in the relationship between the Democratic Party and religious voters. You can read the full text here.

Obama Redraws Map of Religious Voters
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Religious language trips off Barack Obama's tongue as if he were a native of the Bible Belt. From the moment he emerged on the national scene, he has spoken to believers in a language few Democrats have mastered: the language of the Bible and of a personal relationship with God...

Pollster Robert P. Jones of Public Religion Research says that Obama's appearance at the 2004 convention was a turning point in the relationship between Democrats and believers. Then, a majority of Americans viewed the Democratic Party as hostile to religion. But Jones' poll this month found a remarkable shift.

"Barack Obama was perceived to be more friendly to religion than John McCain," he says. "And that is, I think, an indication of the real sea change that's under way, and the way in which religion is interacting in public life."

Continue reading the full piece here.

Labels: campaign, npr, obama, public religion research

Check out this piece from National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" that talks about the work of my firm, Public Religion Research, my new book, Progressive and Religious, and the change in the political landscape from 2004 to 2008. You can read the full text here.


How McCain Shed Pariah Status Among Evangelicals
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

When it comes to evangelicals, John McCain has remade himself in eight short years. The Republican candidate was a pariah to religious conservatives during his run for the White House in 2000. This time around, he's not exactly a Messiah but he has won over his base...

"I think 2004 really was the high-water mark of the religious right in America," says Robert P. Jones, president of Public Religion Research and author of Progressive and Religious.

Jones says the culture wars do not excite religious voters the way they used to.

"What we had in 2004 was a very artificial constriction of religion to be about abortion and same-sex marriage," he says. "We also had in a way we hadn't seen before an artificial constriction of religion to be about one political party. And it's not sustainable."

Jones' polls show abortion and same-sex marriage don't even rank in the top five issues for evangelicals, much less other religious voters.

Continue reading the full piece here.

Labels: campaign, mccain, npr, progressive and religious, public religion research