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    America and Islam After Bush

    Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December, 2008, for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book, The Shia Revival, surveyed the geo-political landscape of today’s Middle East, arguing that the 2003 invasion of Iraq has fundamentally […]

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    Religion and Politics ’08: Hillary Clinton

    Background Hometown Park Ridge, Ill. Age 62 Religion United Methodist Education Yale Law School, J.D., 1973 Wellesley College, B.A., 1969 Candidate Website www.hillaryclinton.com Candidacy Status Formally declared candidacy Jan. 20, 2007. Suspended campaign and endorsed Barack Obama June 7, 2008. Political Experience U.S. Senator from New York, 2001-present First Lady of the United States, 1993-2001 […]

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    III. The Anxious Middle

    23% of the Middle Class; 12% of all adults These working and worried Americans are the most middle class of the four middle class groups. Members of this group aren’t the wealthiest or the least affluent of the four groups, nor are they the oldest or the youngest group. In terms of education, too, they […]

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    IV. The Struggling Middle

    17% of the Middle Class; 9% of the total population On virtually every key measure of social stature and attainment—income, education, home ownership and even health, members of the Struggling Middle are lagging behind other middle class Americans. Women significantly outnumber men in this group and minorities are disproportionately represented, though whites still constitute the […]

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    II. The Top of the Class

    35% of the Middle Class, 19% of all adults Life is good for these middle class Americans—and most in this group predict it’s only going to get better. A 54% majority say their lives have improved in the past five years, and nearly half report they’re close to living their ideal life right now. These […]

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    V. The Satisfied Middle

    25% of the middle class; 12% of all adults The optimism of youth and the contentment that comes with old age together define this group and make them distinctive from the other three middle class groups analyzed in this study. About a quarter of those who identify themselves as middle class are in the Satisfied […]

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    Language

    Amid the technology, what is it the two candidates are trying to project about themselves online? To find out, PEJ combed through the text of the most universal and permanent sections of the sites—candidate biographies, issues and speeches. In general, we found that Obama tends to stress domestic policy and the economy, while McCain focuses […]

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    Section 2: Personal Finances and Economic Concerns

    While the public continues to rate national economic conditions more negatively than personal finances, the proportion of people rating their own finances as only fair or poor is the highest it has been in nearly 16 years. Currently, 61% say they are in only fair or poor shape financially. That is up only slightly since […]

  • short reads

    Free Time: Middle America’s Top Priority

    Asked to rate the importance of various priorities in life, some two-thirds (68%) of the self-identified middle class say that free time is very important to them, more than say the same about anything else on the list, including having children (62%), a successful career (59%), being married (55%), or living a religious life (53%).

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    Religion and Politics ’08: Barack Obama

    Background Hometown Honolulu, Hawaii Age 48 Religion United Church of Christ Education Harvard Law School, J.D., 1991 Columbia University, B.A., 1983 Candidate Website www.barackobama.com Candidacy Status Formally declared candidacy Feb. 10, 2007. Elected president Nov. 4, 2008 Political Experience U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2005-present Illinois State Senator, 1997-2004 Professional Experience Lecturer, University of Chicago Law […]