I Would Be Less Likely to Vote for a(n) _____ as President

September 9, 2007 By Guest Contributor 20 Comments

Here are the latest poll results from the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

How many people would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if the person was:

Black? 6%
Catholic? 7%
Jewish? 11%
Woman? 12%
Hispanic? 15%
Evangelical Christian? 16%
Mormon? 25%
Muslim? 45%
Atheist? 61%

We win!

Oh wait…


[tags]atheist, atheism, survey, study, poll[/tags]

Filed Under: General 20 Comments
  • Darryl

    I’ll take that 39% and be happy to get it.

  • http://mollishka.blogspot.com mollishka

    I was unaware that black is now a religion.

  • Miko

    I’d be curious to see the overlap in those categories and particularly between atheist and evangelical. While we may be most-discriminated-against, I’d guess that this is indicating that quite a bit more than 61% of the population is basing votes on metaphysical opinions. (Although the only think we can conclude conclusively about the overlaps from this data is that at least 6% is both anti-Muslim and anti-atheist as far as it applies to voting; and I expect that that particular overlap is much larger).

  • Miko

    I was unaware that black is now a religion.

    the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

  • http://synapostasy.blogspot.com Aaron

    Is it just me, or are things getting worse for us? I could have sworn the last one was around 53%… (Of course, I want to see the error bars on this, too ;-) )

  • http://www.skepchick.org writerdd

    The latest Gallup poll shows us at 45% acceptance, but still in first (oh yeah, last) place:

    http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=26611

    Wingnut daily thinks the fact that almost half of Americans would vote for an atheist, is a sign that the end is coming:

    http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57512

    Hemant, how did you miss that one? (Or did I miss your post about it?)

  • http://unorthodoxatheism.blogspot.com Reed Braden

    Is there a study like this with homosexuals included in the list? I would like to see where we end up in the results.

  • Kate

    Guess it would suck to be a Black female atheist. Damn.

    The female in me is HIGHLY pissed that 12% of this country (though I think that’s a low figure) wouldn’t vote for a candidate simply because she’s a woman.

  • http://olvlzl.blogspot.com/ olvlzl, no ism, no ist

    That’s what happens when you won’t compete for Miss Congeniality. Niceness counts.

    Actually, I’d vote for all of the above before I’d vote for a Republican. I wonder what would happen if you put Dick Cheney on the list.

  • http://friendlyatheist.com FriendlyAtheist

    Hemant, how did you miss that one? (Or did I miss your post about it?)

    Saw it. Just didn’t get around to blogging it. Plus, many other fine bloggers beat me to the punch :)

  • Darryl

    Whoever becomes President next will surely change some of these numbers.

  • miller

    Any difference between this poll and the one from last year, is likely attributable to difference in the poll question. This one only asks which groups people would be less likely to vote for. Didn’t the older one ask which groups that people wouldn’t vote for at all?

    I’m not sure these results necessarily mean widespread discrimination. After all, religion may be irrelevant to politics, but it can be a good predictor. I’d be less likely to vote for an Evangelical, because such a person is more likely take the worst of the Republican positions.

  • http://emergingpensees.com Mike C

    How many atheists here would be honestly less likely to vote for someone based on some of the religious categories here? Evangelical Christian for example. Would that affect your vote?

    And miller, what if it was an evangelical Democrat? Would it still affect your vote?

  • http://olvlzl.blogspot.com/ olvlzl, no ism, no ist

    Excellent question, Mike C. There are actually some evangelicals who are pretty liberal. I still think the world would be a lot better off if the Mormon Morris Udall had won the election in ’76 and I’m no fan of the Mormon establishment. You have to take individuals as individuals to be realistic.

  • Mriana

    Yes, Mike it would affect my vote. If I knew they were Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians, I would not want to vote for them. By the same token, if they were an athiest, that would not affect my decision, but rather their platform. For most Evangelical Fundamentalists, THAT IS their platform. They run it by their religion and not by what is really needed for the country and thus the Religious Reich makes this country into a Theocracy and not a Democracy. Where as an atheist, I can focus more on his platform and not worry about him or her trying to run the country based on an ideology.

    So drop the atheist to 60% and bring the Evangelical up to 17%, because I won’t vote for them if I know they are Evangelicals. I have had enough of this country being ran by the Religious Reich.

  • http://nomorehornets.blogspot.com The Exterminator

    One of the categories should have been: “idiot.” Unfortunately, I think it would have earned a lower percentage than “atheist.”

  • miller

    Mike C,
    I’m not sure, to be honest. It’s hard to separate religion from politics and political reasoning. Even aside from all that, the religious position of the candidate can be symbolic, and will influence the general public’s thinking if not the candidate’s. So I’m thinking yes, though it’s hard to imagine candidates that are so equal that I would have to consider this.

  • Miko

    How many atheists here would be honestly less likely to vote for someone based on some of the religious categories here? Evangelical Christian for example. Would that affect your vote?

    This is sort of what I was wondering about with the atheist vs. evangelical vs. etc. percentages. Of course, it’s a bit of a different experience for atheists since we basically have no choice about voting for theists, making it only a difference of degree.

    There are certainly legitimate reasons for us to be concerned about such things. If someone runs on the platform of drastically expanding the Faith-Based Initiative or of passing a new Constitutional amendment to undo the 1st Amendment, I’d certainly oppose him/her vehemently. And I’d be worried by anyone who thought that prayer was a viable way to solve any tangible problem. Or if they use irrational dogma to deny basic science. But these are all specific concerns. Honestly, it wouldn’t affect my opinion in general at all. I didn’t get mad at the Democrats for their faith debates this term; I just didn’t bother watching them. Now, if we had a Scientologist running, that might be another story…

    Seriously though, I see the differences between my style of atheism and the Emerging Church as being more philosophical than practical. Do you think that our voting habits in this regard are significantly different than your own?

  • http://emergingpensees.com Mike C

    Probably not Miko. I tend to vote issues, not parties or religions… though I’ll take religious background into account if it affects the issues.

  • stogoe

    A humanist, environmentalist platform and a history of working to further the issues in their platform are the most important to me. But I can’t say that religion or lack thereof would play no part in my decision. I would probably vote for a less religious candidate in a primary. But a liberal Christian vs. an atheist authoritarian in a general election? I have to vote for the liberal, even if their hat is at odds with their political positions.