young evangelicals

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner has released a new survey today on young evangelicals.

A recent survey conducted for Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly finds that young white evangelical Christians are less supportive of John McCain for president than their older counterparts. Although McCain maintains a solid winning margin among white evangelical Christians on the ballot, white evangelicals ages 18-29 are less supportive of his candidacy and express less favorable impressions of McCain than older white evangelical Christians.

While the survey shows McCain winning the young white evangelical demographic, the lead is much thinner than among evangelicals over 30: 62-30 McCain among white evangelicals under age 30 compared to 73-22.

This may at first not seem like a big deal, but it is. It shows that there is a clear opening for Democrats to make inroads with young white evangelicals, as well as a greater number of them supportive of Democrats that could work within the demographic to build more support.

Young white evangelicals view John McCain less favorably than their older counterparts: 54% vs. 68%. The biggest surprise is that young white evangelical women tend to not be sold on Sarah Palin. Only 46% rated her favorably, compared to their over-30 counterparts who gave her 65% positive ratings.

One of the big demographic changes between young and older white evangelicals is the view towards civil unions/same-sex marriage:

Fifty-eight percent of young white evangelicals support some form of legal recognition of civil unions or marriage for same-sex couples; a quarter (26 percent) support the full right for same-sex couples to marry. White evangelicals over age 30 are less supportive: forty-six percent favor some legal recognition, but only 9 percent of older white evangelicals favor full marriage rights.

While both young and older evangelicals feel similarly about abortion issues, this shift in regards to same-sex marriage shows a huge generational change on social issues.

Take-aways

• It is important for Democrats to make their case to young evangelicals. There is room for large gains, and it is important to do so before partisan identity is solidified.
• As the Millennials age the evangelical demographic will be much more favorable than it is now. The opportunities for marriage equality will also increase.
• Democrats should find and recruit Democratic-leaning young evangelicals to make further inroads into the demographic.

Here on Future Majority we have talked about the new school of evangelicals, the political shift of young evangelicals, and Obama's young evangelical outreach. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate has reinvigorated the discussion of what is going to happen with young evangelical voters.

Obama's relative strength with young evangelicals was causing a lot of distress among the crazy conservative elder evangelicals. An article on Jusiper quoting one of these evangelicals shows just how freaked out they are:

This generation is not the "Joshua" generation, it is the "Judas" generation. They are not Christians, they are devils. The Church should hang its' head in shame that we have produced generation after generation of apostates who have disgraced the name of Christ by sniffing after devils like Obama like animals in rutting season. Fortunately, our Lord is a mighty God who can conquer Satan and these minions of his regardless of how few true believers remain.

Young evangelicals haven't been lock-step with their older counterparts. Surveys have shown young evangelicals as more accepting of homosexuality, and that they are not single-issue voters on abortion issues, but also are concerned about the war in Iraq and social justice.

McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was supposed to energize the evangelical base, seeing as though she believes that a few thousand years ago people were dinosaur hunting instead of moose hunting, yet it appears that the reaction of young voters to Palin is mixed.

It seems that young evangelicals are starting to split into three camps, similar to the philosophical split of the country: conservative, progressive, and moderate. While the conservative evangelical youth are more excited about the Republican ticket with Palin, the progressive-leaning evangelicals aren't nearly as impressed. To them, Palin's selection undercut McCain's claim to be "country first" and independent-minded.

One of the wild-cards being talked about is the effect that Bristol Palin's pregnancy will have on young voters. Some think that it will help young voters relate to the ticket, which frankly I think is stupid. I think a possibility is that young evangelicals who have actually remained abstinate may be turned off by it.

The point is that even with Palin on the ticket Obama has a good chance at pulling a significant portion of the young evangelical vote. With McCain effectively giving up on young voters and Obama doing significant outreach to both youth and evangelicals, we have the opportunity to succeed by putting in superior effort.

What are your thoughts on Palin's effect on the evangelical youth vote? Share in the comments.

See... I told you...

Since I last posted about Young Evangelicals becoming a new targeting group in battleground states FoxNews, who I'm certain reads FM on a regular basis, has picked up the story.

"Three swing states — Ohio, Missouri and Colorado — could tip the scales if religious youth show up the way they have in recent elections, said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute at University of Akron in Ohio.

"These 'battleground states’ are good reflections of the nation as a whole," Green told FOXNews.com. "The youth vote — both religious and non-religious — are likely to show the same patterns at the national level. If they [religious youth] can have an impact nationally, they will have an impact in the battleground states."

But a new poll by the Barna Group shows Obama leading McCain among all faith groups, except for evangelicals.

"Obama maintaining a substantial 43% to 34% lead among those who are likely to vote in November, with 5% selecting minor party candidates. That lead is a decline for Sen. Obama’s since early June, when he led his Republican rival 50% to 35% among likely voters. In the past two months, more voters have gravitated to third-party candidates (5%) and a higher proportion is now undecided (up from 15% to 21%)."

Interestingly enough, the LA Times reports this morning that the two candidates will chill on a stage together at Rick Warren's church in Orange County, CA

"But they will make a brief joint appearance, their first of the campaign, and Warren will interview each separately about the Constitution, poverty, AIDS, human rights and other subjects. . .

Many evangelicals believe that Warren's growing profile, and his willingness to welcome Obama to his pulpit, are evidence that he has emerged as the most pivotal figure in U.S. evangelicalism. . .

The forum with McCain and Obama, he said, is his latest attempt to introduce civility into public discourse, even if it irks some of his fellow evangelicals. Warren faced biting criticism in 2006 when Obama spoke at his church for a global AIDS summit. Last year Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) appeared at another AIDS conference at the church.

Warren has been called perhaps ‘America's most influential pastor,’ an evangelical megastar who leads the nation's fourth-largest church, reaches thousands of ministers through the Internet and crusades against poverty and AIDS. That globe-trotting work -- and his phenomenally successful book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ -- have propelled him into the vanguard of a movement that inspires young and socially conscious Christians."

All very interesting.... we're always bringing you the best info here at FM.

We all know that Obama's campaign is reaching out to young people, but specifically his campaign is reaching out to young evangelicals who we've seen trend more progressively in the past few years.

But, Michael reported last Friday about the final Iowa numbers from CIRCLE which included some interesting info about young evangelicals:

"65% of [Republican] caucus-goers under 25 described themselves as "born again" or "evangelical."

But it seems Obama might be winning more of the Young Evangelical Vote in crucial battleground states. Bloomberg reports on Liberty University's Obama for America chapter.

"[Michelle] Miller, 23, calls recruiting political converts there "an uphill battle.'' Still, the group's existence signals an opening for Barack Obama among conservative evangelicals -- especially younger ones -- that may help sway the outcome of the presidential vote in states like Virginia and Florida."

"Surveys show evangelicals are increasingly concerned about such issues as the economy, global warming and the Iraq War. While Obama has little chance of carrying this group, if he persuades 10 percent of those who typically vote Republican that he reflects their values better than McCain, that may make a difference in some battleground states. "

This might be because the Obama campaign is leaving no vote uncontested. Much like the campaigns outreach to young voters, connecting with evangelical voters is a step toward growth. The beginning of August marks the opening of Obama's Evangelical Outreach Campaign according to the Christian Broadcast Network.

"There's no doubt Obama has engaged an eager and energetic younger crowd during this presidential campaign. These twenty somethings wants to discuss issues beyond abortion and marriage. Obama is tapping into that. Will the McCain campaign combat this effort and highlight the fact that younger Evangelicals care deeply about abortion and marriage as well? My sense is the heavy lifting on this will have to come from conservative pro-family organizations. At this point the Obama campaign is winning the narrative on the younger Evangelical front. Not a surprise from an religious outreach team that has been on its "A" game ever since Obama announced his intentions to run for President."

I've said it before, I'll say it again... if you build it, they will come. How we got to a place in the Democratic Party where we ONLY went after our base of support instead of working indy's and persuadable is beyond me. Whoever had the idea - I hope they're working for the GOP now. Actually, it seems they might be given the GOP outreach....

My mother REALLY wants me to go to Family Day at the Southern Baptist Church this Sunday.

So, in my FM fun this week, I wanted to look at some recent studies I've seen that talk about young people who are or who aren't alienated by organized religion and contrast that with actions we are seeing across the country

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 44 percent of young American adults agree that religion is a very important part of their lives. For most, that's thanks to the parental forces. Mom enters

The National Study of Youth and Religion in an ongoing report claims that

"One of the most widespread and persistent stereotypes about U.S. teenagers is that they are alienated from “established” or “organized” religion and that this alienation is increasing."

But the reality (according to them) is that, "the majority of 12th graders in the United States — about two-thirds — do not appear to be alienated from or hostile toward organized or established religion"

Y'all have heard me go off about how evangelical practices have turned into adopting the cultures of young people as a means of recruitment.

This was not the case back in the day - this has only been a recent (20 years or so) development that has been quickly spreading from Orange County and the corners of West Virginia to the Bible Belt (like we needed any help...)

So it comes as no shock to me that young people suddenly don't feel alienated by religion - because religion isn't religion as we once new it. The anti-dancing, anti-rock n' roll, suit wearing, sticker stickin, holier than thou world that we see contrasted with these guys in my favorite ad that actually talks about our generation: