Nearly half of Americans (46%) are unable to correctly identify Barack Obama as a Christian including 13% who still maintain that he is a Muslim and another 16% who say they have heard different things about his religion. In addition, 11% say they don’t know because they have not heard enough about Obama’s religion. The percentage of voters continuing to say that Obama is a Muslim is largely unchanged from June (12%) and March (10%), when the controversy over Obama’s former pastor at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ was fresh in many people’s minds. In the current survey, nearly one-in-five McCain supporters (19%) say that Obama is a Muslim, up from 14% in March. Fewer than one-in-ten Obama supporters (7%) identify him as a Muslim. More than three times as many white voters than African Americans see Obama as a Muslim (14% vs. 4%). Among white voters, 17% of those who have not completed college say Obama is a Muslim and 45% say he is a Christian. Among white college graduates, 7% say Obama is a Muslim while 69% say he is a Christian. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.