2 of 4

According to the exit polls, Bush won handily among frequent church-goers, and pulled even with Kerry among people who attend once a month or less. Bush drew 60 percent of weekly attenders, compared to Kerry's 39 percent, while Kerry led Bush among non-church-goers, 64 percent to 34 percent.

Bush drew 75 percent of white evangelicals, 58 percent of Protestants and 24 percent of Jews, a slight rise from 2000. Kerry had 41 percent of Protestants and 76 percent of Jews. The exit polls, conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for major media organizations, did not include Muslim voters.

Among the coveted Catholic vote, Bush held a slight edge nationally over Kerry, 51 percent to 48 percent. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptists' Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said Kerry's arms-length relationship with his church came back to haunt him.

"Kerry said, `I will have a secular government, I will not allow my Catholic values to interfere with my public policy,"' Land said. "The president said, `I'm a man of faith and my faith will impact my public policy' and … the American people took Bush's vision over Kerry's."

While Bush's values agenda seems mostly clear cut, the thornier question is what lies ahead for two groups who struggled to employ religious language to shape the values debate—Democrats and religious progressives.

Green, for one, said the challenge for Kerry's party is to develop a language of faith that appeals to values-minded voters. "One of the lessons to the Democratic Party—they need to explore the social justice issues and their connections to faith," Green said.

Wallis, who pushed Kerry to talk more openly about how his faith affects his policies, said it came as "too little, too late." He also said the Democrats need to confront their own inner demons.

"The secular fundamentalism of the left is as much a problem as the religious fundamentalism of the right," he said.

Adelle M. Banks, Itir Yakar and Wangui Njuguna contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other Christianity Today articles on Election 2004 include:

Weblog: 'Moral Values' Carry Bush to Victory | Moral issues bigger priority for voters than economy, terrorism, or war in Iraq. Nearly a quarter of voters identify themselves as "evangelical/born-again." (Nov. 03, 2004)

Weblog Bonus: 'Bush Gets Mandate for Theocracy' | Early online punditry: Religious conservatives are in control of the country (Nov. 03, 2004)

Religious Leaders Frustrated that Poverty Goes Unnoticed in Election | "The least of these" are the least discussed this campaign season. (Nov. 01, 2004)

The Values-Driven Voter | The values bandwagon is being pulled apart. Which way is more scriptural?—A Christianity Today editorial (August 27, 2004)

A Question of Faith | Top Democrats have much work ahead to convince voters of their religious sincerity.—A Christianity Today editorial (March 03, 2004)

The Politics of Communion | Church leaders who admonish politicians on moral issues are doing their jobs. —A Christianity Today editorial (May 26, 2004)

Bush Calls for 'Culture Change' | In interview, President says new era of responsibility should replace 'feel-good.' (May 28, 2004)

Weblog: John Kerry—Bush and I Have the 'Same Position' on Gay Marriage | Kerry characterized the difference between him and the President as a matter of energizing religious voters. (Oct. 08, 2004)

next page... |  2 of 4

share this page

November (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48