E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
The outspoken Rev. Franklin Graham claimed today that the “majority of Christians” did not vote.
“We know that from of the statistics that I’ve heard that the majority of Christians in this country just did not vote for whatever reason,” he told the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody. “The vast majority of evangelicals did not go to the polls.” He added, “God is in control, and if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves. We need to do a better job of getting our people- the church to vote. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to vote, you can vote, but vote, my goodness, and vote for candidates that stand for Biblical values.”
But Graham’s assertion -- and implication that had white Christian evangelicals just showed up in bigger numbers, President Obama would have lost -- is off base.
In fact, white evangelicals/born-again Christians made up the same percentage of the electorate as they did in 2008 – 26%. They voted for Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon, by a wider margin than they did for Sen. John McCain four years ago.
And, they made up a larger share of the electorate in 2012 than in 2004, when the Christian Right supposedly fueled George W. Bush’s reelection. They also voted for Romney with the exact same margin as for Bush in 2004, 78%-21%.
Not to mention, Obama won the 48 percent of the electorate that was Christian and not Protestant or Mormon -- 50%-48% among Catholics (25% of the electorate) and 50%-49% of "Other Christians" (23% of the electorate).
In Ohio, they were 1 point more of the electorate than 2008; in Colorado, 4 points higher; in Iowa, up 7 points; in Nevada, up 2.
White evangelical voters in select swing states
CO: 25%, 76-22 Romney; 2008: 21%, 76-23 McCain
FL: 24%, 79-21 Romney; 2008: 24%, 77-21 McCain
IA: 38%, 64-35 Romney; 2008: 31%, 65-33 McCain
NV: 18%, 69-28 Romney; 2008: 16%, 72-27 McCain
OH: 31%, 69-30 Romney; 2008: 30%, 71-27 McCain
They did decline as a share of the electorate in North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But the drops in states like North Carolina (Graham’s home state) and Virginia likely have less to do with apathy and more to do with demographic changes – transplants in North Carolina’s Research Triangle and growth in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Northern Virginia, for example.
The fact is, Virginia and North Carolina are looking less and less like the Old South and more and more like Mid-Atlantic states.
White evangelical voters in the South (where exit polls are available)
MS: 50%, 95-5 Romney; 2008: 46%, 94-6 McCain
AL: 47% , 90-10 Romney; 2008: 47%, 92-8 McCain
NC: 35%, 79-20 Romney; 2008: 44%, 74-25 McCain
VA: 23%, 83-17 Romney; 2008: 28%, 79-20 McCain
Are there Christian evangelicals who did not vote? Certainly. But that’s true every year and of every demographic group.
Evangelicals make up 26 percent of adults in the country, according to a major 2008 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey. They matched that this election.
The U.S. Census says there are more than 311 million people in the United States. If evangelical adults are 26 percent of them, then there would be 80 million potential voters.
So far, 123 million votes have been counted in this election – and that number will get higher by the millions as votes continue to be counted like in 2008. Evangelicals made up 26 percent of them, therefore, about 32 million evangelicals voted – less than half of their population.
But there’s a need for context here: (1) They make up just 14 percent of the registered-voter base in the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. They outpaced that percentage in the presidential election, (2) This is true every other demographic group in the country as well.
Latinos, for example, according to the U.S. Census, are nearly 17 percent of the country, but only made up 10 percent of the 2012 electorate. They make up just 8 to 9 percent of the registered-voter base of the NBC/WSJ poll.
That would mean just 12 million of the 52 million adult Hispanics voted.
If this was Australia, and the U.S. had compulsory voting, Graham’s argument that evangelicals would have tipped the balance would not hold up very well.
Leave a Comment:
I am confused, or Rev. Graham is. He said, " God is in control, and if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves."
Well if God is in control, then what is the big deal? God apparently wanted President Obama to be President again, because he is. So relax! Oh wait a minute, I am applying logic to religious discourse. You can't do that!
I was confused.
Franklin is just calling out to his flock... His dad was pretty damned good at it too... Those of us who have been around for 50 or more years remember the Billy Graham crusades on TV prime time.
Nothing new... just invoking dad's marketing strategies.
If God is in control, why did he not just compel the Christians to vote and vote for Romney?
Maybe the right guy did win by divine design and as this country goes deeper into debt and greater scandals hit our White House and our Nation many here won't be able to blame Mitt for the failures. It's your baby Obama ! Sink or Swim......I'm praying for you and the Country, but I'm keeping my boat ready.
Why doesn't this guy just buy up a bunch of land, start his own little cult-state, and run it as religiously as he wants to? He's never going to get it. The majority of Americans do not want religion shoved down their throat by way of the government. Get a clue, religious wing-nuts.
Don't drink the koolaid though.....
I don't drink tea or koolaid.
As soon as Grahammy and other religious zealots start paying taxes they can be a political organization
Too bad I can't thumbs up this post 20 times.
I'm with you on this one!
“God is in control, and if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves.
It just seems to me that your God didn't want Mittens to be president seeing as how "He/She" is in control.
Four more years...
Yes! Yes! Yes!
It's not the father that's turned into an ass. It's his SON - Franklin.
Dad has class.
Franklin is an ass.
In the election the Republicans got 61% of the white vote. That is a disproportionate share based on regular voting patterns. It happened because many white voters saw a black vs. white issue instead of a red vs. blue issue.
In the next election, the racial divide will probably not exist and will not give the Republicans that advantage. In that case, they face an even more humiliating defeat. They won't learn their lesson because rather than reflecting on what went wrong, they are lashing out blaming the voters for not voting for them. That makes them losers two times over.
The Republican Party has become a cesspool of bigots (Donald Trump, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann), hypocrites (Rush Limbaugh), ignorant people (Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann), paranoid people (Glenn Beck), outright traitors (Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Eric Cantor), geriatric senile types (John McCain) and the greedy (Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Grover Norquist). With a cast of characters like that, they should expect to lose and expect to face further decline as the country moves away from their dated and hateful value.
Another Charlatan angry because he did'nt get his way. I guess all that praying didn't help or maybe God wasn't really on your side after all. You got what you deserved, NADA on top of total rejection! Take your religion and go away you Shaman. Did the Makers Take you for some mula? Haley Barbour could refer you to his GOP doctor and maybe get you in front of the line for that proctology exam you so desperately need. If that does not work try Ann Coulter, she might try some needles on a little doll or give you a palm reading to see what century and planet you might become relevant again.
A very conservative, religious acquaintance remarked that Hurricane Sandy allowed Obama to be re-elected. Someone asked if God controls the weather and she said, "Yes." Someone pointed out it followed that by creating the hurricane, God wanted Obama to win. One wonders what Franklin would have to say to that?
Franklin's father was wise enough not to make his political leanings public; Franklin would be wise to do likewise lest the IRS question his tax exempt status.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/pulpit-freedom-sunday-pastors-defy-tax-rules-back-political-candidates_n_1948284.html
Old Vet-462462
You made the same mistake I did. You applied logic to religion. Can't go doing that. You will go mad! : )
Billy was the King of the God Game mass media ministers in his day. Indeed, he was one of the early early ones. Now, he's a befuddled geezer most of the time. We should be so lucky to live to his age! His son 'Franklin' has always been merely a pure bred nut job. Pay him no mind.
hrdtime - since when did God die and leave you to play judge and jury? I'm sure you would be hard-pressed to talk to anyone who likes the notion of abortion. However, it is a personal choice and the only thing most folks want is the right to be the decider in their personal lives. Why does gay marriage offend you? It has nothing to do with you. Why the need to judge? Why don't you let God worry about judging the hearts and minds of his creation? We are all imperfect. To use the words of the Christian faith, we are all sinners. Are you without sin? Worry about your own soul and let each of us worry about our own. I'm willing to bet Granny has accumulated a great deal of wisdom in her lifetime and could teach us all a few things about love.
I am not judging, I am repeating the word of God, which I am commanded to do in the word of God! My only question is to those that say they live by it, not to judge those who don't believe in it at all. I have no bad feelings for gay people, but I question how someone who believes in God would think that God would have an innocent 8.5 lb baby boy placed in the arms of 2 men who have chosen a lifestyle that prohibits that creation from taking place and then demanding the rights to have a child depriving it of ever experiencing the loving arms of a mother figure like I am sure you had. My questions are not for unbelievers, for the same word that I do believe in says there will be billions of them. Gay marriage is not a problem at all, adoption, and making Christian pastors marry them is. Why would anyone want to be married by a man who prays to the God they don't believe in. The agenda is very clear and that I must oppose. I "HATE" cigarette smoke, I love my mom, she smokes. Get the picture! Luv ya man, Hope your God and my God get together some day, we'll shoot some hoops in Heaven, actually Golf would be better, can you imagine a 7 mile drive.
I used to shake my head when an evangelical religious leader would make some outrageous claim, make some totally ridiculous statement or tell his/her flock that Judgement Day was near. Now, I wonder why people even listen to these so-called "men-of-God". They've been wrong so many times, statistics keep proving their inaccuracies and I'm still living and breathing and not worried about being judged at the end of today. If they really did have a personal line to God you would think they would be right more often. But, alas, they are just human like everyone else; no better and no worse.
WTF is this guy talking about! He sounds as unhinged as Romney. So, no Christians voted? That would mean 85% of America didn't vote. No, I know, he means REAL Christians. The same way Romney means REAL Americans. Two of a kind. An excluding, delusional kind. eyeroll
Hey Rev. Franklin Graham -- you're not 1% of the man your father is. You may think you're a Christian but the reality is you're nothing more than a right wing gas bag on par with Limbaugh the junkie. I'm a Christian and I voted for President Obama. Mitt Romney LOST because he was a lousy candidate, with lousy ideas, who choose a lousy VP then organized a lousy convention and ran a lousy campaign. He was the most dishonest candidate either major party has nominated in my lifetime and I remember every election since Ike/Stevenson in 1952.
One reason President Obama won a 2nd term is because he cares about the American people. Look at all the money he could have harvested from his first election, but instead he choose to lead us kicking and screaming into the 21st century. A world for 100% not the just the 1%.
Well, at least he didn't say the devil made them (not) do it.
Franklin Graham grew up in the shadow of a revered and respected father. It made him aware standards of behavior were higher than for other kids. Now that he has the pulpit he seems to be living out his missed youth, those years where you get to say stupid things.
It has always amazed me that those who profess to love the bible the most seem to hate their fellow humans the most. Rigid and judgmental does not seem to be the teaching of Jesus. Even more bizarre, Obama became a Christian and Romney is Mormon. Very subjective vitriol.
Beginning to see the problem? When this group figures out who they are besides loud obstructionists their electoral chances might start looking up. Obama won because more people believed in him enough to fill out a ballot than were willing to do it for the other guy.
Folks like Franklin Graham are going to get a rude awakening from his God about his remarks. He needs to go away; but I will do the christian thing and pray for him...
Someone please tell Franklin Graham to shut up. Many, many Christians voted for Obama. While Franklin doesn't like that, he should start acting like a Christian instead of a whiner. A very great problem exists when the media and others assume that all Christians think and vote alike and that Graham speaks for us all. Hardly.
I'm a Christian. I voted for Barack Obama as did the multitude of other Christians I know.
Hey, Franklin.... I got out. I voted. I voted for Obama...and guess what - - - I'd venture to say that I'm a better Christian than you are and I'm not even a member of a church! I just know what Jesus asked us to do - to look out for the poor and those who are in need of shelter, forgiveness, and love - - and you seemed to have forgotten all of that - - it is so blatantly obvious that you're simply looking out for the wealthiest! Shame on you!
Maybe the GOP should stop VOTER SUPPRESSION by nixing early voting on Sundays...????
Why on earth does any thinking human being care, for even a second, what this guy believes or says? He
wanted media attention. You gleefully comply. Spare us his drivel and spare us your indignation that only
encourages him further.
Dear Red States,
Please keep your narrow minded, racist and bigoted "so called christians." They don't deserve to be called christians with a capital "C" because they are the antithesis of what it means to be Christ like.
Amen!
Actually, most evangelical Christians should more accurately be called Paulines because most of the anti-government, anti-homosexual, misogynistic and "do-as-I-say-not as-I-do stuff" in the New Testament came from Paul (a former Roman government tax-collector). Many have forgotten the actual Jesus teachings of love thy neighbor, to the least of these, and the rich man and camel simile.
More and more Americans (more than 50% now) do not claim affiliation with any organized church. They are mostly believers and spiritual but they are disillusioned with organized religion. Franklin Graham is a bigot and judgemental religious elitist, and he learned it from his father. The fawning of the religious right over Billy Graham for decades is disgusting. I remember his TV campaigns when I was a kid - I couldn't stand him then and I can't stand him or his son now and all the pandering done with them by politicians of both parties is and always has been nauseating.
The fact that FG can't imagine a christian voting for Obama speaks to his own level of intolerance and ignorance.
"More and more Americans (more than 50% now) do not claim affiliation with any organized church."