Political parties mediocre on religion, values

Political parties mediocre on religion, values

PRINCETON, N.J. — An increasing percentage of Americans believe that neither Democrats nor Republicans share their attitudes about the role of religion in politics, according to a new poll released Oct. 24. The poll also showed a drop in the portion of Americans who say the parties represent their values, with the GOP losing more ground than the Democrats.

About 41 percent of Americans believe the Republican Party shares their views on religion in politics “moderately well” or “very well.” That’s an overall drop of 12 percentage points from one year ago. For Democrats, who have tried to woo religious voters since the 2004 elections, the figure is 48 percent, an overall drop of 5 percentage points from October 2005.

On the question of values, 51 percent of Americans said the Republicans represent their values “very well” or “moderately well,” a drop from 57 percent one year ago. For Democrats, the comparable figure was 56 percent, down from 58 percent a year ago.

The USA Today/Gallup Poll, based on a sample of 1,002 adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.