Gallup Polling Data on Hispanics
Hispanic Voters Divided by Religion
It’s election season, so I’m sure everyone is sick of polling data right around now, but Gallup just released results of a poll they did with the Hispanic population that studied Hispanics’ religion and religiosity as it related to their choice for President of the United States. The poll found that while Catholic Hispanics supported Barack Obama over John McCain by a 39-point margin, Hispanics who are Protestant or another non-Catholic Christian faith support him Obama by only a 10-point margin.
Also significant was the finding that the more frequently a person attended church, the more likely they were to support McCain over Obama. Among weekly churchgoers Obama still leads by nine points, 51-40, but the margin is much narrower than his lead among Hispanic who seldom attend church, 72-21.
There’s nothing really earth-shattering here. Just that Hispanics are like every other voting bloc in that within the population there are many differences that lead to different outcomes in the voting booth. I think it’s human nature to always paint with a wide brush, but inevitably the subtle variations that make all the difference are missed. I suppose that is what political strategists are for.
