Young Born Again Christians Lose Interest in Obama, Barna Group Says
Young born again Christians supported President Barack Obama in 2008, but a majority now say they will vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a survey research by Barna Group.
In 2008, seven out of ten born again Christians aged 18 to 29 supported Obama, according to Barna. Barna's recent surveys show that a majority of young born again Christians, 54 percent, now say they support Romney.
The main issues of concern this year for young born again Christians are healthcare (65 percent), education (51 percent), taxes (48 percent) and employment (41 percent). The "culture war" issues of abortion and gay marriage rank low by comparison – 36 and 35 percent, respectively.
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Barna also expects that churchgoing women, of all Christian denominations, will comprise about 30 percent of the electorate. The top priorities for churchgoing women, Barna found, are healthcare, taxes and employment.
Fifty-three percent of churchgoing women say they will vote for Romney.
Barna also found that churchgoing women are more likely than other groups, even Christian men, to say that the candidate's character and faith matter in their vote choice.
Barna defines a "born again Christian" as someone who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. "Churchgoing" is defined as anyone who has attended a religious service in a Christian church in the last six months.
Barna will release more of its findings the week after the election.
