Friday, July 25, 2008

Religion, Take Three

The fine folks at Fox asked the following survey question:

Some people believe Barack Obama, despite his professed Christianity, is secretly a Muslim. Others say that is just a rumor and Obama really is a Christian as he says, and point out he’s attended a Christian church for years. What do you believe -- is Obama a Muslim or a Christian? Muslim Christian (Other) (Don’t know)

Now this, conducted July 22-23, comes dangerously to being a push poll. It suggests something more than it asks something. By the way, among Republican respondents, 20% say he's a closet Muslim (5% Dems, 7% Indies).

And so it goes.

What we don't have are crosstabulations of "he's a Muslim" with factors other than political party identification. Is it just the know-nothings (who can be found in both parties) who think he's a Muslim, or informed folks truly skeptical of Obama's shifting sands on the issues? Are they hardcore McCain people? And just how strongly do they identify with the GOP or Democratic Party? That's unclear in the results, because a strong partisan acts and believes in very different ways than a "soft" partisan.

The pdf of the survey is here for those curious enough to read the, often mundane, results. The Obama/Muslim question is #27 and is followed by one about McCain being a prisoner of war but doesn't suggest any "negative" aspects in that question. Interesting in and of itself. And telling.

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