In the new Newsweekpoll, which has Obama and McCain in a dead heat at 46-46, McCain wins white evangelicals by 69-22–still short of Bush’s 2004 margin (77-23) but heading in that direction. McCain wins white Catholics by 59-33, a margin 13 points larger than Bush’s in 2004 (56-43). Whites as a whole split 55-37 for the Republican ticket, an 18-point difference virtually identical to Bush’s 58-41 margin over Kerry. Non-whites back the Democratic ticket 75-17–a differential 14 points greater than the Democratic margin in 2004. The non-white electorate and the white Catholic electorate are roughly the same in size. My guess is that it will be harder for McCain to pick up non-white votes than for Obama to pick up white Catholic ones.
(Originally published at Spiritual Politics)
