[Liz]

I don't give a darn what THEY say. Sure they'll try to spin it. But the results are in and EVERYBODY knows the Repub base----conservative churchgoers----aren't buying the Kenny/Rudy shinola. They can't win without them .....and they know it. Why else would Rudy try to make nice with conservatives, and kiss-up to churchgoers? And why would Rahm Emanuel recruit pro-life Democrats (who won Tuesday)? Read on:

MAJOR STUDY BY THE PEW FORUM ON RELIGION AND PUBLIC LIFE:

Republicans Can't Win Without Christian Conservatives (this means you, Rudy)

SOURCE: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:QS6fK2c8AP0J:pewforum.org/events/index.php%3FEventID%3D115

Americans who regularly attend worship services and hold traditional Christian religious views increasingly vote Republican, while those who are less connected to religious institutions and more secular in their outlook tend to vote Democratic, according to a major study by the Pew Forum.

Some of the conclusions of this report were already evident in 2004 exit polling data. For example, voters who attend church more than once a week (16 percent of all voters) chose Bush over Kerry by a margin of 64 – 35 percent.

Likewise, those who attend Christian denominational Churches on a weekly basis (26 percent of voters) supported the President by a 58 – 41 percent margin. Also very telling, those who never attend Church (15 percent of voters) overwhelmingly supported Kerry 62 – 36 percent.

The study further found that traditionalist elements within each religion tended to vote Republican, while modernist groups within the religions trended towards the Democrats. A multiple regression analysis of exit poll and public opinion survey data from 2000 and 2004 enabled the Pew Research Center to assign a relative weight to various demographic markers.

Interestingly, church attendance was tied with race as the most significant factor. But even that number is deceiving; in that race is only an important factor due to the high level of support the Democrats receive from black voters.

These trends represent a major shift over the past forty-five years. White Christian Evangelicals in 1960 favored Democrats by a two-to-one margin; now they are Republican by a 56 – 27 percent margin. Seventy-eight percent of them voted for President Bush in 2004.

In 1960, 71 percent of Catholics were Democrats and now Democrats have only a slight edge among Catholics (44 – 41 percent) and Catholics voted for President Bush (52 – 47 percent) in 2004. These trends have also brought an increased acceptance of religion in the public square.

While Americans do tend to favor the separation of church and state, 70 percent of voters want their President to have strong Christian religious beliefs. Likewise, the study reveals that 52 percent of Americans believe that Christian churches should express political views. Surprisingly, support for political involvement of churches is strongest among younger voters age 18 to 29 (59 percent).

[George W. Bush]

Those are excellent points. However, Christian support seems to be concentrating in states already pretty safely Republican. Beyond that, America is increasingly post-Christian. And what people tell pollsters isn't what they always vote for either.

I think many evangelicals who voted for Dims can be won back. It will be more difficult to reclaim Reagan Democrats who voted for Dims this time around. I guess it depends on how quickly Dims manage to offend them and display their true colors.