William McKenzie, Dallas Morning News editorial columnist and a moderator of Texas Faith, discusses how Obama closed the “God gap”:
Earlier this year, I reported Democrats could crack deeper into this mostly Republican group. That didn’t happen, but Mr. Obama didn’t lose ground among mainliners. That’s significant, as Democrats have stopped the bleeding.
Also revealing is that more evangelicals are giving the new president a shot. About 40 percent say he shares their values and is friendly to religion. That number’s impressive when you consider how reliably Republican most evangelicals have been.
Going forward, here’s what this shift means:
The Reinhold Niebuhr-reading, churchgoing Democrat has an opening with religious voters. He especially has religious progressives and African-American churchgoers at his side. Many people of faith are looking for the common good, even though they didn’t vote for him.
Read the full column here.