Evangelicals Staunchly Pro-Life, Solidly Behind McCain -- Part Two of Three

Four weeks from tomorrow Americans will cast their ballots for President of the United States. Having said that it is important to remember that more than ever, people are voting ahead of time. If, for some reason, you will be unable to participate on November 4, be sure to cast an absentee ballot.

During the next 29 days you will read and hear a lot. Some of it will actually be accurate, as opposed to thinly disguised advocacy disguised as analysis. Be discerning. Do not pay attention to what the "mainstream media" tells you from moment to moment.

The one thing you can know for sure is that based on recent history, it is highly likely there will be at least one or two substantial changes in public opinion. More than anytime in my lifetime, the electorate is fluid.

Events have changed the dynamics of this race over and over and over again. They could, and probably will, again.

A very pro-life piece of news (as measured on two different axes) was the results of a survey taken for Religion & Ethics News Weekly by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. Naturally, the summary/key findings for "Young Evangelical Christian and the 2008 Election" tries to find a negative, but that's okay.

The bottom line is that white Evangelicals are solidly pro-life and behind pro-life Sen. John McCain over pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama.

Overall, "White evangelical Christians support John McCain 71 percent to 23 percent over Barack Obama," we're told.  McCain thumps Sen. Obama among those over 30, 73% to 22%.

If you accept the spin from the report, the "bad news"  is that among evangelical Christians ages18-19, McCain wins by "only" 62% to 30%.

For all the talk about the Obama campaign's outreach to the faith community, especially younger people, the results seem to be minuscule among white Evangelicals.

Looking to the future, evangelicals 18-29 are profoundly pro-life. The numbers are terrific for younger and older alike, but we will focus here on the 18 and 19 year old respondents.

The question was posed this way: "Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases?"

Exactly one-quarter say abortion should be illegal in all cases and nearly half (48%) say it should be illegal in most cases. That is a total of 73%!

Only 8% say abortion should be legal in all cases, and another 18% say it should legal in most cases, a total of 26%.

Please take a moment to pass this e-mail along to your family, friends, and colleagues and to read Parts One and Three.