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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.
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Feed the Christian a$$ holes to,the lions
Sometimes I feel the same way....but then there is Laura
laura-417908
I am a born again Christian and proud to say I voted for the guy who stands for compassion, love, and honesty and he won!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Laura...you give me hope.
Right wing stone age god loving types area,danger to,all,real people
I am a born again Christian and proud to say I voted for the guy who stands for compassion, love, and honesty and he won!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be a good Christian, support the survival of the middle class and fight for the weakest among us, boycott Wal-Mart
I don't respect Franklin Graham at all. He has been a republican so much more than a man of God for years. When you put politics before your faith you are not a decent Chistian in my book. You are not even a good Christian when you agree with everything that the republicans represents now. So much of their agenda is greed, is corruption, is for the one percent, is against the poor and unfortunate, is against protecting us from corporate greed and avarice. And is for war and war profiteering that has no consideration for the human costs of war.
Die,
All you christian scum
All gop christians that is. Lmao
Be a good christain,feed yourself to the lions,,ha he ho
The only people I blame for Obama winning are those that want (and now GOT)...
BIGGER government translating into more control over our lives, our finances and our liberty.
Endless bailout programs, more people on the dole and higher taxes FOR ALL.
Well you asked for it...
You got it.
Now we'll all suffer together.
That is what United means now in this country.
Perceptions of Reality and Reality are often different. You believe that Democrats tend to always bring on more government while the Republicans bring on a smaller government. That is often not true. Under the Reagan years the size of the Government grew quite large both for government employees and the contractors supporting them. This continued under the Bush years, and then under Clinton you actually had the number of government employees beginning to drop, however, the contractors supporting the USG continued to grow. Of course after 9/11 you again saw the government numbers increase to what we currently have.
The thing to keep in mind is that during all of this time did you taxes go down? Probably not because the contractors cost more money than the government employees to perform the same work.
Think about it...
So, I'm a white male, I''m a Christian, and I voted. The good thing is that the people I voted for most of them were elected here in Virginia. Oh Yes... I voted for Obama, because he was the better candidate.
Think about it...
But you are a Yankee, so you are expected to vote Dem. LOL, And yes I lived there for 4 years so I know that VA IS really part of the North. LOL
Yea, I was shocked at first too.........the history books lied to me to. But then, all those years that close to DC.....
Any religious group that tries to enforce its own beliefs via the government must fail. That is not the function of government. The Founding Fathers knew that a secular government would keep us free from the religious wars that had damaged Europe. On September 23, 1800, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend, "... and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own... they believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
Christian Republicans brought out a certain kind of Christian voter, while antagonizing other voters. It seems that demographics are working against this model, and Republicans must decide how much Capitalism and how much Christianity they really want in a campaign.
Obama seemed generally likable, and Romney seemed somewhat of a stiff. Despite the Electoral College, it was a very close race. Likability should never be the deciding factor in who does the best job. Obama's track record was: more Gitmo, more GWB overspending, ending Central Asian wars by abandoning those war zones to Jihadis, promoting the Jihadis of the Arab Spring. It's been a bad four years, and if John McCain had done these things, he would not be re-elected.
It's the Democrats fault! Pure and simple! Allowing a socialist to win and serve as POTUS - such ignorance! You will all see in the next few months what you allowed to happen, In America! {:-(}
You can't be serious.
Satan won but then he owns the souls of the majority in DC so that is nothing new. We are giving our future to the godless and muslims. Politicians are all being ruled by lobbyist and the those sick special interest.
Pugh-leeez
Amen.
Christians didn't lose the election, the religious right did by driving people who may have otherwise voted republican away like me and most of our family. We watched the republican debates where a gay soldier was booed and not a single candidate came to his defense. I'm going to vote for such people? I don't think so. Now if you want to tell me about fiscal responsibility, cutting spending and putting more of our money back into our own pockets, my door is open. But the frist time you mention God to me, you'll be asked to leave at gun point.
Your words below, Franklin. If “God is in control..”,apparently he voted for Obama. Perhaps God is a Democrat and he was trying to show you a nice way to go back to your pulpit and SHUT UP and minister to the poor as he commanded you to do. If you want to be a politician then run, if not keep your religion out of everyone’s politics and do as you were told.
Deuteronomy 15:11 - For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
“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.”
You sir, are one of those False Prophets the Bible warns us about.
Matthew 7:15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
I AM a Christian. A woman. 55 years old. I voted. For Obama.
Christians consider Mormonism a CULT
But when faced with the choice of a black man who is a voice for the poor and fairness for all or a Mormon, all of a sudden the Mormon is a man of God.
Believe me this has never been what they taught.
God is much bigger than fundamentalist evangelicals can even imagine.
If you don't want tax dollars helping the sick and poor, then it's time to stop saying you want a government based on Christian values" --- John Fogelsang.
You are a Christian woman? YOU voted for a man that is demanding that Christian employers provide birth control for all its employees? YOU voted for a man that not only believes in abortion but PARTIAL birth abortion (Pulling out the child alive and then stabbing it in the back of the neck)? You voted for a man that has bowed down to Arab Sultans! You voted for a man that was brainwashed by the racist "Reverand" Jeremiah Wright? And, finally, YOU voted for a man that believes in the Robinhood mentality of stealing a man's wealth and forcing him to give it to others? You should be ashamed, and no, you are not a Christian.
Oh how lucky the world is to have you to speak for God.
That's funny....I am a born again Christian and I voted.....for Obama!
You are a Christian woman? YOU voted for a man that is demanding that Christian employers provide birth control for all its employees? YOU voted for a man that not only believes in abortion but PARTIAL birth abortion (Pulling out the child alive and then stabbing it in the back of the neck)? You voted for a man that has bowed down to Arab Sultans! You voted for a man that was brainwashed by the racist "Reverand" Jeremiah Wright? And, finally, YOU voted for a man that believes in the Robinhood mentality of stealing a man's wealth and forcing him to give it to others? You should be ashamed, and no, you are not a Christian.
Another pathetic attempt by Republicans to lay blame on anything and everything for their crushing loss but the one factor that was responsible: a total repudiation by voters of their racist, divisive, elitist and sexist policies.
It is sad to read all the vial hatred that I have seen on this thread. We have become a Country of pagans and anti-Christ people. I pray that you people will someday see the light, but in a strange way, I thank you all because when this country finally falls into a state of total chaos, I believe even God will say: "Enough!!" Then we each will be judged individually, and we will all finally come to the realization that we each ARE responsible for our own actions.
When the national debt hits 25 trillion in 2 years, you all will STILL be blaming Bush. Most people vote democrat because they are afraid the gimme programs will end. All you hypocrites that think republicans are the 1% need to read other news articles. All you anti-Christians need to rethink your position.. You could be slaves to the Muslims.
Sorry Mike, your light just isn't bright enough to see by.
I prefer reality, not fairy tales.
GL with that afterlife thingy. :-)