President Obama attends Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, the same church former president George W. Bush attended during his time at the White House, but voters in the South still continue to question the president's faith. [See photos of Obama's re-election campaign.]
A Public Policy Polling study released Monday shows 45 percent of voters in Mississippi and Alabama believe Obama is a Muslim, while only 14 percent correctly identified Obama as a Christian.
The study revealed an especially conservative electorate in the Bible Belt, with 68 percent of respondents identifying as evangelicals and 60 percent rejecting the teaching of the theory of evolution. [Read: Ron Paul Not a Hit with Youth Voters.]
With just two days before the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, the evangelical voters seem to be splitting their votes between former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In Mississippi, 44 percent of voters described themselves as 'very conservative.' Romney earned just 26 percent of the evangelical votes in Mississippi, while Gingrich and Santorum earned a combined 67 percent of the evangelical vote. In Alabama, Romney holds 31 percent of the vote at large to Ginrich's 30 percent and Santorum's 29 percent. Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul lags behind considerably at 8 percent. In Mississippi, Gingrich holds the lead, earning 33 percent of the vote. Romney follows with 31 percent and Santorum holds at 27 percent. Again, Paul polls poorly, coming in with 7 percent of the vote..
"About all we know for sure about Tuesday's primaries is that Ron Paul will finish last in them," says Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Poling. "Beyond that it's plausible that any of the candidates could finish between first and third in both Alabama and Mississippi.
Reader Comments Read all comments (12)
Muslim Jew of AL 8:59AM March 20, 2012
Kelly Wilson of MS 10:30PM March 15, 2012
Stacey Bridges of VA 3:09PM March 14, 2012