Religious Vote Data Show Shifts In Obama's Faith-Based Support

[jeepnstein]

18. In a backwards way, it might have.

I'm still trying to digest the data. Anecdotally, I've got lots. In Ohio they needed the religious right base of the Republican Party to get out and vote. I'm not convinced that happened. My best guess is right now lots of Evangelicals simply didn't cast a vote for President based on their religious views. It sure looks to me like Team Romney was counting on them to vote for him by default and didn't spend much time looking for someplace to make up those votes if they didn't. To many Evangelicals, the Republican Party left them when it embraced someone whose religious views were so far removed from their own. And those votes will remain in play for a while although I doubt the Democrats will make a move for them.

And of course since Obama owned Romney and his identity after the primaries making up those lost votes was easier said than done. The ads he ran about Romney early on paid off huge. He's a much smarter politician than I thought, and I already had a pretty high opinion of his skills.