The 'God Gap' lessened in last election

A minor miracle occurred this month: The "God Gap" in American politics narrowed. While the most religious voters in recent years have tended to favor Republicans, a slice of them voted Democratic in the Nov. 7 midterm congressional elections. The shift has raised eyebrows among pollsters and strategists.

After all, President Bush's campaign in 2004 perfected the art of rallying evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics with opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Riding a wave of voter discontent with the war in Iraq and Washington corruption, Democrats won control of Congress for the first time in 12 years. According to exit polls, Democrats took back the Catholic vote they lost in 2004. They trimmed the GOP advantage among weekly churchgoers, and even gained ground with the most loyal segment of the Republican base: white evangelicals. "It was not a huge decline for Republicans, but it was not trivial either, and ...