Time Poll: Obama considered Democrat with strongest faith; and possible troubling news for Hillary

[TeamJordan23]

Obama has lower unfavorability among red state voters than Guilani. Haha.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1642653,00.html

As a result, black politicians rarely need to prove their religiosity-they're given the benefit of the doubt. Obama is no exception. On the ranking of candidates with strong faith, Obama comes in second (24%) among all voters. And even Republican voters put him (18%) above John McCain (17%), Rudy Giuliani (14%), and Newt Gingrich (14%).

But the lack of excitement about the Republican field may help Obama as well. His general favorability rating amongst red state voters equals that of Rudy Giuliani at 56%. And because Obama has a relatively low unfavorable rating in red states (30% versus Giuliani's 35%), his net favorability rating among red state voters (+26%) is actually better than any of the Republican candidates. Nor do his Democratic opponents come close — Edwards' net rating is +13 and Clinton's is zero, with 48% of red state voters on each side of the question.

Perhaps more problematic for Clinton is the fact that nearly one-quarter of respondents (24%) say they know she is "not religious" — that's almost twice the nearest candidate, Rudy Giuliani (13%).

On this point, Clinton undoubtedly suffers from the double whammy of being a Democrat and a Clinton. Even Democrats tended to chalk up her husband's religious fluency to his general political skill, the ability to be everything to everyone, while Republicans saw him as a fake who exploited religion for political purposes and pandered to voters. Now Senator Clinton, the lifelong Methodist and one-time Sunday school teacher, is in a bind: So many voters think they "know" she can't possibly be religious that when she speaks about her faith, they interpret it as pure political posturing.

[Nimrod2005]

1. Obama is by far the most INSPIRING candidate....nt

[jefferson_dem]

12. Of course, he is. That's not even arguable.

Now's his time.

It feels good to be inspired...

[goclark]

13. I agree ~ He brings the promise of a new day

a day for new ideas and a new way of bringing people together, no matter their age.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. the quandry is that voters believe and trust Obama's religiousness while they don't

Hillary's though she has been a practicing christian. I think this is where some of Bill's baggage is hurting her. Obama doesn't have that problem. But, he is seen as being liked by all groups and trusted as authentic more.

[wyldwolf]

3. ever notice how various sources always find " possible troubling news for Hillary?"

There was that husband thing and THAT has worked out just fine.

There was those books released in June. I saw the Bernstein one marked down 50% this week.

Sicko? Hmmm... doesn't appear it will do the box office Bowling For Columbine did...

Someday, someone might actually find something that is REALLY troubling news for Hillary. But this ain't it.

[TeamJordan23]

5. nice, is that an attack on Michael Moore? At least he is bringing up the issue.

Where is your candidate's healthcare plan?

[wyldwolf]

6. no, it's a commentary on how the movie isn't hurting Clinton as some her thought it would

[kenfrequed]

14. Hillary isn't the target

Granted she might be one of the people that did the wrong thing but the purpose of the film is to get people to start thinking about fixing the healthcare system. We can elect all the democrats we want, but if they don't do the things we elect them to do it won't make a difference.

Also you seem to be of a crowd that I have noticed that is dead set on Hillary no matter what. I think this colors your perspective of this stuff a bit.

[wyldwolf]

15. I never said she was. But many in the netroots were drooling over the idea it would bring her down

Also you seem to be of a crowd that I have noticed that is dead set on Hillary no matter what.

Right. :eyes:

[William769]

8. They won't find those sources in PA, MI and today Oh!

:rofl:

[flpoljunkie]

4. Wow! Obama's red state net favorability is +26% compared to Hillary's net zero--altho amazing folks

don't realize how religious she's always been. Evidently, the R's have successfully tagged her as non-religious, which is absurd.

[KC for Obama]

7. Gingrich

I found it interesting that Newt was included in the poll results.

Though he admits it's far too early to ever be running in a political race, does this basically seal-the-deal that he will be entering the race this fall, about the same time Thompson enters?

[BeyondGeography]

9. Welcome aboard, KC

[newyawker99]

23. Hi KC for Obama!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[DFW]

10. I am so fed up with the religion issue

At this point, I think I'm going to vote for the candidate
that professes to have LESS religious faith than the rest
of them.

I am a hell of a lot more concerned what a president will do
in the Oval Office than on Sunday (or Saturday) at some temple
of worship. A good portion of the nation seems to see it the
other way around, even though it looks to me like a president's
professed religion (present jerkoff excepted) has not been a major
factor in influencing how he did his job. Nixon, a Quaker, had no
problem continuing the Vietnam conflict and even expanding it. A
Quaker, for Pete's sake! I sometimes wonder just what century my
country is living through. Al Gore in the 21st, most Republicans
somewhere between the 12th and the 19th centuries, and way too many
of my fellow Democrats who can't decide if they want the Age of
Enlightenment or Father Divine.

Bush wants his stuff "faith-based." I want nothing faith-based except
what every individual decides for him- or herself to believe. No faith-
based schools, no faith-based social security, no faith-based foreign
policy, and for sure, no faith-based arguments over who should be
the Democratic nominee for President in 2008.

[TeamJordan23]

18. Education, proverty, tolerance, gay rights are all considered "faith" based things by most Dems. nm

[DFW]

21. Most Dems I know think religion has nothing to do with those issues

Just basic human rights. Maybe that's faith in itself.

Or maybe, I just hang with the wrong Dems (they sure seem OK to me).

[Kingstree]

11. Hillary is no different than her husband

parlaying her religious stance to exploit for political purposes and voter pandering. The Clinton machine is only interested in winning and it will use any means necessary to get there. I saw her on CNN a few months ago when candidates were asked about their religious faith and she was a total fake. She may be a lifelong Methodist but many people have religious affiliation's but that doesn't means they are honest and forth right, especially if you are in the public eye daily or running for the Presidency. She is strictly political and if using religion can assist her to the Presidency despite the american people, she will. I've heard her speak at a African American church once trying to send her message to the congregation trying to sound like a Black minister. Al Gore tried to do the same thing when he ran for the Presidency. Quit pandering and insulting the intelligence of the American people.

[ShortnFiery]

16. Kick.

For, IMO, a genuine, walk-the-walk (those who live the life and do not preach) Christian political leader appeal equally to atheists and humanitarians.

His values are for "the people" before the privileged few. :-)

"Whatever you do for the least of us, you do for me." ... Jesus

Go Obama! :patriot:

:dem:

[Hippo_Tron]

17. I like that this poll is good new for Obama, but this article is crap

"Democrats have long outsourced religion to their African-American members, showing up in black churches the weekend before elections to clap along to gospel tunes, and treating black ministers as cuddly social justice mascots."

Give me a fucking break...

Also, while Obama's +26% net approval among red state voters is astounding, the fact that approximately half of red state voters (which decide a little more than half of the electoral votes) have a favorable opinion of Hillary, shows that she is very electable.
No matter who we nominate, '08 is our election to lose.

Finally, I think this poll says a great deal about Obama's political skills considering that the first thing he had to do was fight that absurd madrassa story.

[robcon]

19. Since when is "being religious" a comparative value?

Hillary is religious - more than her husband, IMO. Very, very few people vote for the "most" religious candidate, although some have a "threshold" of religiousness that Hillary easily passes.

[GeorgeGist]

20. Oh, please ...

spare me the antiquated Religiosity meme. It's dying, thankfully.

[KoKo]

22. WOW! That's Great.....I want a true person of Faith...I will miss Bush since he's

got a direct line to God in his ear at all times.... OBAMA'S THE MAN...of FAITH.

[AtomicKitten]

24. Funny but when I heard that my first thought was that DU would diss Obama for it.

I think this election will center more on competency and experience than it will on the traditional morality cudgel the GOP likes to wield.