The Disappearing God Gap?: Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election

by Corwin Smidt, Kevin den Dulk, Bryan Froehle, James Penning, Stephen Monsma, Douglas Koopman

Overview

After the reelection of George W. Bush in 2004, the "God Gap" became a hotly debated political issue. Religious voters were seen as the key to Bush's victory, and Democrats began scrambling to reach out to them. Four years later, however, with the economy in a tailspin on election day, religion barely seemed to register on people's radar screens. In this book, a team of well-regarded scholars digs deeper to examine the role religion played in the 2008 campaign. They take a long view, placing the election in historical context and looking at the campaign as a whole, from the primaries through all the way through election day. At the heart of their analysis is data gleaned from a national survey conducted by the authors, in which voters were interviewed in the spring of 2008 and then re-interviewed after the election.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199734719
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	02/08/2010
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

CS: Executive Director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, Calvin College; KdD: Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, and Faculty Fellow, Honors College, Grand Valley State University; DK: Professor of Political Science and Interim Director of the Center forSocial Research, Calvin College; SM: Research Fellow, Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics,Calvin College and Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Pepperdine University; JP: Professor of Political Science, Calvin College

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

1 Religion and Presidential Campaigns in Perspective 18

2 Religion and the Political Landscape in 2008 42

3 Religion and the 2008 Presidential Primaries 72

4 Religion and the Summer Interlude 107

5 Religion and the Fall Campaign 134

6 Religion and Election Day: Voter Mobilization in 2008 164

7 Religion and Election Day: Voting Patters 191

8 The God Gap Revisited 221

Notes 234

References 248

Index 272

Editorial Reviews

"A valuable addition to our understanding of religion's role in American politics broadly, not just the 2008 presidential election."—Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

"This fine new book offers a thorough and timely analysis of the role of religion in the 2008 presidential election. It also contextualizes religion's role in this history-making election, illustrating in many ways that the more things change, the more they truly do stay the same: religious traditionalists remained solidly Republican despite increased efforts on the part of the Democrats to reach out to people of faith. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in religion and politics political parties, or elections in the United States."

—Laura R. Olson, Professor of Political Science, Clemson University

"A must-read for anyone who is interested in religion's continuing—and changing—role in electoral politics in the United States."—Sociology of Religion

From the Publisher