President Barack Obama's Election Involved A "True Melting Pot Of Voters".
True melting pot of voters pushed Obama over top
By Peter Smith
If Barack Obama is the face of the new multicultural America, the coalition that elected him is its body.
The voters who lifted Obama to the presidency formed the most diverse racial and religious coalition in the history of modern American presidential elections.
Obama received the votes of 95 percent of African Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and Asians, as well as the support of three-quarters of Jews, followers of smaller religions and those with no religious affiliation, according to exit polls.
And while white Anglo-Christians gave more votes to Republican John McCain, a healthy share of that group went for Obama as well. Those votes, coupled with the multicultural vote, pushed Obama over the top, those polls showed.
Obama won 53 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 46 percent, or by 65 million to 57 million votes, while also claiming two-thirds of the electoral votes.
"I don't think we've seen anything quite like this in recent memory," said John Green, senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Washington's Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
"Many of these minority religions have typically been Democratic," he said. "Rarely have they been as numerous as they are now or turned out as they have now."
Obama's Louisville voters
Obama's mosaic of support was evident in the Louisville area last week:
Rodolfo Bernal, a Peruvian native, American citizen and refugee caseworker who voted for Obama, shared the joy of his Cuban refugee clients who danced for joy at Obama's victory.
"They were so happy," he said.
Louisville attorney Phil Grossman said when he saw the televised images of Obama supporters weeping for joy at the victory rally in Grant Park, "I joined in."
He sees Obama carrying out the core values that he, himself, draws from his Jewish faith -- to "lift people up."
Emmett Fields, of Louisville, an atheist, said that he mainly voted for Obama on such issues as economics, human rights and the war, but he also believed that "McCain would have given the religious right everything they wanted."
The Rev. Trisha Tull, a white Presbyterian minister from Jeffersonville, Ind., campaigned tirelessly for Obama, saying that she was astonished in 2004 that George W. Bush was re-elected despite the Iraq War and human-rights scandals such as Abu Ghraib.
"What it does say is that the far right does not at have the lock on our religious values," Tull said.
Race, religion did matter
While many voters considered economics the most important issue, religion and race have figured prominently in this and other recent campaigns.
Four years ago, Bush drew strong support from many white evangelical Christians, as well as another religious category -- Catholics and other Protestants who attend worship services weekly.
They joined Bush in opposing gay marriage and abortion, supporting government funding of faith-based organizations and generally supporting the Iraq war effort.
This time, many evangelical leaders and Catholic bishops such as Lexington's Ronald Gainer described opposition to abortion as a top priority.
While not explicitly endorsing a candidate, those appeals aligned with McCain's platform and opposite that of Obama's pro-choice stance.
But many Christians from racial and ethnic minorities saw different sets of priorities.
The Rev. Clay Calloway said many African Americans were appalled at those who questioned whether Obama was really Christian.
"He acted more Christ-like despite being accused of being something other than what he is," said Calloway, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition, a Louisville group of African-American clergy. "That had a way of endearing him to people."
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, the Democrat who won re-election in his 3rd electoral district, said he benefitted from the strong support Obama received in Jefferson County, even though Kentucky as a whole supported for McCain.
"You can be concerned about gay marriage, but if you're out of work and can't afford your healthcare and can't afford kids' college tuition, they're just not as important," Yarmuth said.
Claudia Perralta-Mudd, an international program specialist with Metro Louisville and a native of Argentina, said she believed Obama would bring about immigration reform and also show Americans -- and the world -- "that inclusion is certainly here."
Perralta-Mudd, a practicing Catholic, said she bases her vote on the "the general good" rather than any particular issue such as abortion.
GOP still got religious base
White evangelicals and regular church-goers remained strong supporters of the GOP ticket, although Obama cut somewhat into their ranks, especially among young voters.
He drew the support of 32 percent of evangelicals younger than 30, twice John Kerry's number in 2004.
Obama's inroads among Catholics and young white evangelicals were crucial to his narrow wins in states like Indiana, said Robert Jones of Washington's Public Religion Research.
Martin Cothran, an analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, which often works with conservative Christians on such issues as gay marriage and abortion, said that he didn't view this vote as a repudiation of that agenda.
He said McCain did not campaign on such social issues.
"If you have a likable candidate and another candidate that's not so likable, if the candidate that's not so likable doesn't give any very good reasons to vote for him, then the more likable candidate wins," he said.
And Cothran noted that black and Hispanic voters in California, while supporting Obama, also gave crucial support to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"So to say that this election is a defeat for cultural conservatism ignores the data," he said.
Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.
By Peter Smith
If Barack Obama is the face of the new multicultural America, the coalition that elected him is its body.
The voters who lifted Obama to the presidency formed the most diverse racial and religious coalition in the history of modern American presidential elections.
Obama received the votes of 95 percent of African Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and Asians, as well as the support of three-quarters of Jews, followers of smaller religions and those with no religious affiliation, according to exit polls.
And while white Anglo-Christians gave more votes to Republican John McCain, a healthy share of that group went for Obama as well. Those votes, coupled with the multicultural vote, pushed Obama over the top, those polls showed.
Obama won 53 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 46 percent, or by 65 million to 57 million votes, while also claiming two-thirds of the electoral votes.
"I don't think we've seen anything quite like this in recent memory," said John Green, senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Washington's Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
"Many of these minority religions have typically been Democratic," he said. "Rarely have they been as numerous as they are now or turned out as they have now."
Obama's Louisville voters
Obama's mosaic of support was evident in the Louisville area last week:
Rodolfo Bernal, a Peruvian native, American citizen and refugee caseworker who voted for Obama, shared the joy of his Cuban refugee clients who danced for joy at Obama's victory.
"They were so happy," he said.
Louisville attorney Phil Grossman said when he saw the televised images of Obama supporters weeping for joy at the victory rally in Grant Park, "I joined in."
He sees Obama carrying out the core values that he, himself, draws from his Jewish faith -- to "lift people up."
Emmett Fields, of Louisville, an atheist, said that he mainly voted for Obama on such issues as economics, human rights and the war, but he also believed that "McCain would have given the religious right everything they wanted."
The Rev. Trisha Tull, a white Presbyterian minister from Jeffersonville, Ind., campaigned tirelessly for Obama, saying that she was astonished in 2004 that George W. Bush was re-elected despite the Iraq War and human-rights scandals such as Abu Ghraib.
"What it does say is that the far right does not at have the lock on our religious values," Tull said.
Race, religion did matter
While many voters considered economics the most important issue, religion and race have figured prominently in this and other recent campaigns.
Four years ago, Bush drew strong support from many white evangelical Christians, as well as another religious category -- Catholics and other Protestants who attend worship services weekly.
They joined Bush in opposing gay marriage and abortion, supporting government funding of faith-based organizations and generally supporting the Iraq war effort.
This time, many evangelical leaders and Catholic bishops such as Lexington's Ronald Gainer described opposition to abortion as a top priority.
While not explicitly endorsing a candidate, those appeals aligned with McCain's platform and opposite that of Obama's pro-choice stance.
But many Christians from racial and ethnic minorities saw different sets of priorities.
The Rev. Clay Calloway said many African Americans were appalled at those who questioned whether Obama was really Christian.
"He acted more Christ-like despite being accused of being something other than what he is," said Calloway, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition, a Louisville group of African-American clergy. "That had a way of endearing him to people."
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, the Democrat who won re-election in his 3rd electoral district, said he benefitted from the strong support Obama received in Jefferson County, even though Kentucky as a whole supported for McCain.
"You can be concerned about gay marriage, but if you're out of work and can't afford your healthcare and can't afford kids' college tuition, they're just not as important," Yarmuth said.
Claudia Perralta-Mudd, an international program specialist with Metro Louisville and a native of Argentina, said she believed Obama would bring about immigration reform and also show Americans -- and the world -- "that inclusion is certainly here."
Perralta-Mudd, a practicing Catholic, said she bases her vote on the "the general good" rather than any particular issue such as abortion.
GOP still got religious base
White evangelicals and regular church-goers remained strong supporters of the GOP ticket, although Obama cut somewhat into their ranks, especially among young voters.
He drew the support of 32 percent of evangelicals younger than 30, twice John Kerry's number in 2004.
Obama's inroads among Catholics and young white evangelicals were crucial to his narrow wins in states like Indiana, said Robert Jones of Washington's Public Religion Research.
Martin Cothran, an analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, which often works with conservative Christians on such issues as gay marriage and abortion, said that he didn't view this vote as a repudiation of that agenda.
He said McCain did not campaign on such social issues.
"If you have a likable candidate and another candidate that's not so likable, if the candidate that's not so likable doesn't give any very good reasons to vote for him, then the more likable candidate wins," he said.
And Cothran noted that black and Hispanic voters in California, while supporting Obama, also gave crucial support to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"So to say that this election is a defeat for cultural conservatism ignores the data," he said.
Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.
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