What Are Evangelical Self-Perceptions?
How do evangelicals perceive themselves as a voting audience? In many ways, they exude both confidence and concern. Evangelicals widely contend that they will have a significant influence on the election (84%), yet the also firmly believe that they will be misunderstood and unfairly depicted by media (81%). Three-quarters of evangelicals believe their peers will cause the conversation to be more conservative (75%). A similar proportion indicates their fellow believers will vote overwhelmingly with the Republican Party (74%). One intriguing set of perceptions relates to issues. In all, 48% of evangelicals believe it is accurate that their voting peers will focus primarily on abortion and homosexuality, while 45% reject this characterization. Also, just 28% of evangelicals contend that their tribe will minimize social justice issues, like poverty and immigration; 69% of evangelicals disagreed. David Kinnaman, who directed the Barna study, put these findings in context. “One 2007 study we
