Posted on 05/09/2012 2:17:13 PM PDT by NYer
A new poll from Virginia, a key swing state, suggests that Evangelicals will help put Mitt Romney in the White House this November.
It has become a truism in recent years that Evangelicals are critical to our national elections. As New York Times reporter Erik Eckholm pointed out on April 14, Evangelicals accounted for nearly one-fourth of all ballots cast in recent presidential elections. Their lukewarm support for John McCain in 2008—with many staying home on Election Day and upwards of 30 percent of their 18-29 year-olds casting votes for Obama (Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research)—helped give the White House to the Democrats.
Republicans have feared that Romney’s Mormonism will mean even fewer Evangelical votes for their candidate in November. They cite a November 2011 Pew Forum poll that found 15 percent of Evangelicals saying they would refuse to vote for Romney simply because he is a Mormon.
Of course, McCain in 2008 won 74 percent of the white Evangelical vote, and still lost. But several things are different this time around. Even a slight increase in the percentage of Evangelicals at the polls will have significant consequences. The Baylor Religion Survey estimates that Evangelicals are now one-third of the population, or 100 million people. An increase of only 1 percent at the polls—a million voters—most likely means a two-to-one advantage for Romney among those million votes, which could tip several key states against Obama.
Now there is fresh evidence that Evangelicals in swing states are more numerous than ever, and prefer Romney to Obama by a wide margin. A March 26-April 9 poll of Virginia residents conducted by the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College found that 58 percent of the Virginia population is Evangelical, and white Evangelicals prefer Romney by a 36-point spread (65 percent to 29 percent).
Not surprisingly, Virginia Evangelicals are ambivalent about Romney’s religion. More than twice as many Evangelicals as non-Evangelicals in Virginia (37 percent to 16 percent) think Mormons are not Christians, and 74 percent of the Evangelicals (vs. 61 percent of non-Evangelicals) say Mormonism is “very different” from their own faith. Sixty-one per cent of Evangelicals think the Mormon religion is not Christian or are unsure if it is Christian, compared to only 39 percent of non-Evangelicals.
Evangelicals have always considered Mormon religion very different from their own, but sometimes for the wrong reasons. For example, they typically protest that Mormons believe in salvation by good works. Some Mormons do indeed believe this, just as many Catholics and some Protestants believe they will be saved by being good Christians. Yet the Book of Mormon teaches salvation by Christ’s work of grace: “There is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8).
Yet Evangelicals have legitimate reasons to believe that Mormon beliefs are different from those of historic Christian orthodoxy. For while Mormons believe Jesus is now fully God, they do not believe he was always God. Nor do they believe in the Trinity and the traditional Christian doctrine that God created the world from nothing.
Despite these religious differences, a large majority of Virginia Evangelicals—who themselves represent a majority of Virginia voters—say they will vote for Mitt Romney, a Mormon.
But why? Why do an overwhelming majority of Virginia Evangelicals (79 percent) say that Romney’s religion “makes no difference” in their voting for him? The answer seems to be that they have seen Obama’s policies and dislike them. Sixty-six percent of Evangelicals (vs. only 50 percent of non-Evangelicals) disapprove of Obamacare. Evangelicals are just as worried about the economy and the deficit as non-Evangelicals. In fact, a majority of Evangelicals support the Tea Party (53 percent) while only a quarter (29 percent) of non-Evangelicals do. Seventy-nine percent of Evangelicals think the country is on the wrong track (vs. 66 percent of non-Evangelicals).
Evangelicals, then, will vote against Obama because of the economy and their suspicion that policies such as the recent HHS mandate requiring insurance to pay for abortions will threaten their religious freedom. They will vote for Romney because they think his policies will grow the economy without jeopardizing their deepest convictions—such as their belief in traditional marriage as the bedrock of society.
(Contrary to the current opinion that Romney is losing the women’s vote, 63 percent of Virginia’s Evangelicals are women, and they support him over Obama by a broad margin. This means that Romney will win the women’s vote in Virginia, and probably other states with Evangelical majorities.)
If Evangelicals vote for Romney in greater numbers than for McCain in 2008—and it appears that they might—it won’t be the first time that Christians voted for an American president who was less than orthodox. After all, George Washington was a deist who usually referred to the deity in vague and impersonal terms. Thomas Jefferson believed the doctrines of the Trinity, atonement and original sin were essentially pagan, and rejected the possibility of miracles or resurrection. John Adams also denied the Trinity, along with most orthodox Christian doctrine, while holding to a Stoic-like resignation to fate. Lincoln and his wife attended séances, and William Howard Taft was a Unitarian who rejected the deity of Christ.
Christians who voted for these presidents showed they were looking for a Commander-in-Chief, not a theologian-in-chief. In this approach they echoed Martin Luther, who reputedly said, “I would rather be governed by a wise Turk than by a foolish Christian.”
Then vote Conservative.
I am an Evangelical who will NEVER vote for Romney. I would by hypocritical of me and against my faith.
I rest my case. That's one vote for Obama.
No, you were making an obvious dig at our most pro-life, anti-homosexual agenda, conservative voters who hold this nation together, in a gloss over of the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda group who voted 54% for Obama.
A vote for Mitt is a vote for ABO.
A vote for Sarah Palin is a vote for Obama.
A vote for Goode is a vote for Obama.
If you chose to eat the Elephant whole, rather than small bites, prepare to choke on it.
And I am completely honest about what I'm voting for. ABO. I'll take a Mitt over Obama, any day of the week. You can have your vote for Goode and take a 4 year side dish of Obama with no regards for re-election. If you think the first 4 were bad, wait till you see what he serves up the last 4 with Executive Orders, etc. without the shackles of having to run another election campaign.
Get a clue, see the bigger picture.
I will be surprised if I don’t end up voting the same as JR votes, right now for a quick answer I just say that I will write in Palin, but in time, conservatives will probably come up with a more sophisticated plan of some sort.
Just wait till Mitt is asked about gay marriage. This will change.
No, it is a non vote. Don’t use dialetic reasoning. Me not buying a Chevy isn’t an automatic sale for Toyota. There are other options.
I hope it’s never ok to talk about a Romney victory.
I hope he washes out at the convention (still a possibility, especially if RP can disrupt it a bit), because if they pick him, there’s no way on God’s green earth that he’s going to win the presidency.
He’s an extremely unattractive person, a poor speaker, a member of a flaky non-Christian cult with theocratic tendencies, a fiscal and social progressive, and has absolutely nothing that is going to make the average voter pick him over Obama. The GOP, however, has told him it’s “his turn” (in exchange for not challenging the last guy whose turn it was, John McCain). This is the same thing they said to Bob Dole, who they also knew was going to be a loser.
Defeat Romney at the convention and get another candidate, or we will surely lose. And it will be the fault neither of the Evangelicals or the Catholics, but of the GOP for annointing such a horrible candidate.
Mormons believe that one’s salvation is based on such good works as baptism, good deeds, missionary work, and following Mormon teachings. In The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, justification by faith in Jesus Christ is called a “pernicious doctrine” twice and he states that it has been “an influence for evil.” (pp. 107, 480) Bruce McConkie once stated at Brigham Young University that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is “improper and perilous” (Church News, March 20, 1982, p. 5)
http://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Mormons.html
Freudian slip?
It's time for all conservatives to get as many people motivated and educated how to vote for America.
Heh ...
Once again, I just LOVE Freedom of Speech ...
It lets me know who the jerks are.
No, I am voting against both. It isn’t my fault the GOP gave us dog vomit for a candidate.
NYer, I have been in minstry to Mormons for almost 20 years, preaching against their teachings. I would be a hypocrite to vote for one for POUTS.
Virgil Goode 2012.
Hey, if you want to compromise your faith and vote for someone who is pro-abortion and pro gay marriage, that is your choice, but don’t expect me to.
Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
I was demoralized last time but I voted for McCain anyway. This time, I have been getting more involved and working to convince family, friends, coworkers and people at church not to vote for Romney. A vote for Romney is a positive vote for who and what he is. I don't want that on my conscience.
The truth is though, Romney is doomed to fail anyway but just in case something dramatic changes things, I want to make sure I did may part to make sure he fails.
Sure thing!! We just need a candidate worth the vote. Romney doesn't fit that bill. Besides being very liberal in his views when Governor, he is dishonest to the core. 100% pandering phony!! Voting for him would be a betrayal of everything I believe in.
Voting for him would be a betrayal of everything I believe in.
- - - -
AGREED!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.