Religion and the Primary Process in the 2008 Presidential Election

This paper examines the role of religion in the 2008 presidential primaries, focusing on three questions: (1) Did religion play a major role in the primaries? (2) In what ways did religion play a role? and (3) Did the primary election process reveal a continued existence of a “God gap” in American electoral politics. Religion did indeed play a major role in the presidential primaries although in ways which differed from recent presidential elections. Democrats made a concerted effort to narrow the “God gap” and the Democratic nominee, Barak Obama, proved to be more comfortable with religion and religious rhetoric than did his Republican opponent, John McCain. Nonetheless, McCain’s issue positions resonated better with the G.O.P.’s grass-roots evangelical supporters. Regardless of the specific outcome of the 2008 primaries, religion promises to shape the outcomes of future presidential primaries as well as general elections.