The Purpose Driven Campaign: The Candidates’ Forum with Rick Warren
McCain and Obama will make their first joint appearance of the general election campaign at an event moderated by Pastor Rick Warren at his 22,000-member Saddleback Church. John Green discusses what the candidates stand to gain from speaking with Warren and the challenges that Warren will face as he attempts to broaden evangelicals’ political agenda.
Presidential Race Draws Even
With fewer than two weeks to go before the start of the presidential nominating conventions, McCain has solidified his support among Republicans and white evangelicals, especially in the South, while Obama lags in attracting Clinton supporters.
Comeback Kids: Clintons Return to Campaign Coverage
Last week’s major story lines turned more to discord among Democrats, energy policy and the search for vice presidents.
Latinos Overwhelmingly Support Obama and Democrats in 2008
A new Pew Hispanic Center survey finds the presumptive Democratic nominee now has a strong lead among Hispanics, a sharp reversal from the primaries when Obama lost the Latino vote to Hillary Clinton by a nearly two-to-one ratio.
McCain’s Lead Among Evangelicals Smaller than Bush’s in ’04
Many white evangelicals remain undecided and Obama has made few inroads into this key constituency. But the Democratic candidate enjoys strong support among the religiously unaffiliated.
Cell Phones and the 2008 Vote: An Update
The latest Pew Research Center national survey, including a sample of 503 adults on a cell phone, finds that the overall estimate of voter presidential preference is modestly affected by whether or not the cell phone respondents are included.
Should Women Worry Obama?
Obama is doing better among young and independent women than either of the last two Democratic nominees, but many older Democratic women remain undecided.
Likely Rise In Voter Turnout Bodes Well For Democrats
Even with a partisan enthusiasm gap, voter interest is already as high as in November of recent elections, two trends that may significantly alter the composition of the eventual electorate in the Democrats’ favor. The proportion of swing voters is also up compared with four years ago. Nearly half of independents (47%) are undecided or may change their minds, up from 28% in June 2004.
The Faith Factor in the Media’s Primary Campaign Coverage
Despite attention to Obama’s former pastor, questions about McCain’s relationship with the conservative religious base, interest in Romney’s Mormon faith and Baptist preacher Huckabee’s strong showing, only 2% of campaign stories directly focused on religion; still that was more than the attention devoted to race and gender combined.
McCain’s Interest Gap
While Obama and McCain received similar levels of media coverage, Obama remained by far the most visible candidate. Only 11% of Americans cited McCain as the candidate they had heard the most about, while more than seven-in-ten (71%) named Obama.
