Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
In the national matchup among registered voters, Obama leads McCain by eight points, 48% to 40%, which is slightly larger than Obama’s lead in late May (47% to 44%). Obama is doing about as well among most demographic groups as Kerry and Gore were doing at this stage four and eight years ago, respectively. The […]
Updated Nov. 21, 2008 In this article: The Right to Privacy The Road to Lawrence The Lawrence Case The Goodridge Case Same-Sex Marriage in the States Looking Ahead On Nov. 4, 2008, California voters passed Proposition 8, amending the state’s constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. The vote, which was significant enough to make national headlines […]
Social Issues Role of Government Immigration Health Care Ideology and Partisanship Voting Patterns Social Issues On many life and family issues, including abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage and the death penalty, the views of Catholics tend to closely resemble the views of the U.S. public as a whole, according to Pew Research Center surveys […]
As the historic 2008 presidential primary season came to an end, the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees faced similar dilemmas. Both Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) decided to sever ties with controversial religious figures who had been backing their campaigns. As the general election campaign got under way, both […]
The presidential candidates have recently intensified their efforts to woo Catholic voters, underscoring the election-year significance of this key swing constituency. Pew Forum Senior Fellow John Green discusses Catholic voting trends in past elections, the challenges facing the campaigns as they reach out to Catholics and how the church’s growing Hispanic population may impact future […]
Key West, Florida A voter at a New Hampshire polling station. Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2008 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. William A. Galston, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and an assistant for domestic policy […]
Religion in the United States is often described as a vibrant marketplace where individuals pick and choose religions that meet their needs, and religious groups are compelled to compete for members. The Landscape Survey confirms that, indeed, there is a remarkable amount of movement by Americans from one religious group to another. Together with other […]
Washington, D.C. A variety of religious voices have been prominent in the 2008 presidential campaign to date, and to the surprise of many observers, these voices include religious activists with liberal and progressive perspectives. They describe a growing movement focused on justice and the common good. Where did this movement come from, and how might […]