Obama Attracted Minority Christian, Less Religious Voters en Route to Second Term
The Public Religion Research Institute confirmed that the religiously unaffiliated and minority Christian vote largely went to President Obama while Mitt Romney attracted most of the white, evangelical vote in November. The group's recent surveys highlight the challenge the GOP has in attracting minority voters.
According to the surveys, 25 percent of religiously unaffiliated voters supported Obama, with Romney winning only 7 percent of the same group. However, 40 percent of white, evangelical Protestants supported Romney while Obama received only 8 percent of that vote.
Each candidate received equal support from white, Catholic voters.
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The surveys showed that Obama's coalition was comprised of 7 percent who consider themselves non-Christian, whereas Romney coalition was made up of only 3 percent of the like group.
The results were taken from the nationwide American Values Survey of 1,410 respondents and the Ohio Values Survey based on 1,203 phone calls of adults 18 and over.
Minority Christian voters were more likely to report that a majority of people in their congregation supported Obama (67 percent), rather than Romney (22 percent).
White mainline Protestant voters were more likely to report that a majority of people in their congregation supported Romney (46 percent), rather than Obama (25 percent). However, more than 4-in-10 (43 percent) Catholic voters reported that most people in their congregation supported Romney, while 33 percent reported that people in their congregation primarily supported Obama.
The results also showed that 88 percent of black voters and 66 percent of Hispanic voters believed the country was moving in the right direction. This is in contrast to 61 percent of white voters who felt the country was heading in the wrong direction. White working-class voters in the South (75 percent) were significantly more likely than white working-class voters in Ohio (56 percent) to say things are off on the wrong track.
When combined, the two surveys closely mirrored the election with about 50 percent saying they voted for Obama and 48 percent supporting Romney.
Politico reported on Tuesday that former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, who is black, has expressed interest in running against Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, who has already announced he is seeking a second term.
Watts says the GOP cannot continue down a path of being a party of white, wealthy men.
"My concern right now, and I don't say this necessarily as a candidate [for RNC chairman], my concern is that as a Republican, every single Republican in America ought to be concerned about what has happened in 2008 and 2012," Watts said in an interview with Politico. "In this business, if you're not growing, you're dying."
The former congressman turned businessman showed a sarcastic side when he spoke of party efforts to mobilize minority voters every four years.
"These old, tired, pathetic models of saying, 'Okay, in the black [community], when there's a presidential election, we will form an African-American Coalition for Romney or [Sen. John] McCain,' I'll never do that again. That is a joke, that is so tired," Watts said. "It's window dressing to say, 'African Americans for Romney' or 'African-American Coalition' or 'African-American Advisory Council.' That's insulting to the people that they ask to do it when you don't put a permanent infrastructure in place to give it credibility."
Watts also said on Wednesday that if Priebus were a coach, CEO or pastor and delivered results similar to those seen in the recent elections, they "would be fired."
