CHICAGO (Reuters) - Voters in last year's presidential election showed a new polarization within some religious faiths, a fact that may make it all the harder for Democrats to recapture the White House, according to a report released on Thursday.President Bush "depended heavily on traditionalist Christians, while (Democratic opponent John) Kerry had a more diverse coalition characterized by minority faiths, the unaffiliated and modernist (more liberal) Christians," said the report.
It was probably easier for the Republicans to mobilize their more homogeneous coalition than for the Democrats to mobilize their more diverse group, said the survey from the University of Akron's Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.
Polarization within religions is relatively new, the report said, and Bliss Institute director John Green said this development may make it more difficult to forge coalitions on social ...