New Poll Says Candidates Should Not Try To Influence Voters With Religion
A new poll shows that a majority of Americans - 68% - don't want candidates to use their religious faith to influence voters. Even a majority of regular church-goers (60%) feel that way. The poll was sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance.
Notably, this sentiment is consistent across political party affiliation, with nearly 60 percent of self-identified Republicans agreeing and three-quarters of Democrats (75 percent) and Independents (70 percent) concurring. Furthermore, by a three-to-one margin, Americans believe that clergy and religious leaders should not have a great deal of influence on voters’ decisions (great deal of influence, 8 percent versus no influence at all, 31 percent).In other findings of the poll: "nearly 80%" want the Supreme Court to keep religion, government separate.