More Americans Say Bush Shares Their Moral Values; Kerrys Catholic Practices Not an Issue with Voters Latest Zogby/OLeary Report Poll Finds

Forty-nine percent of likely voters said that President George W. Bush shares their moral values compared with 41 percent of likely voters who say Kerry shares their moral values according to the latest Zogby/OLeary Report.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 30, 2004 -- Forty-nine percent of likely voters said that President George W. Bush shares their moral values compared with 41 percent of likely voters who say Kerry shares their moral values according to the latest Zogby/OLeary Report poll conducted September 17-19, 2004 of 1,066 likely voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Fifty-four percent of Red State (states won by Bush in 2000) likely voters and 43% of Blue State (states won by Gore in 2000) likely voters said Bush shares their moral values. Conversely, 37% of Red State voters and 46% of Blue State voters said Kerry best shares their moral values.

President Bush enjoys solid support from likely voters who attend church regularly. Frequent church-goers were more likely to say Bush best shares their moral values while those who infrequently or never attend church were more likely to say that Kerry best shares their moral values. Sixty-one percent of daily church-goers and 53% of weekly church-goers and even 52% of voters who attend church only on special occasions said Bush best shares their moral values. Fifty-two percent of those voters who said they never attend church said Kerry best shares their moral values.

Voters Unconcerned with Kerrys Catholic Practices
A clear majority of voters felt that Kerry and his wife legitimately consider themselves practicing Catholic over a smaller percentage of voters who said Kerrys claim of being a practicing Catholic was done only for political advantage.

Voters were asked: John Kerry and his wife say they are practicing Catholics. The Catholic Church requires that Catholics be married in a church ceremony. The Kerrys were married in a civil ceremony. Do you think that John Kerry and his wife consider themselves religious despite their civil marriage or do you think they only claim to be practicing Catholics for political reasons?"

By a margin of 48% likely voters said John Kerry and his wife consider themselves religious compared to 27% of likely voters who said Kerry claimed to be a practicing Catholic for political reasons. A clear majority of likely voters in Red and Blue States (47% and 49% respectively) also felt Kerry and his wife considered themselves religious compared to 27% of Red and Blue State voters who felt that Kerry was using his Catholicism for political reasons.

Even a majority of regular church-goers agreed that the Kerrys consider themselves religious. Thirty-seven percent of daily church-goers, 48% of weekly church-goers, 57% of church-goers who attend church only on special occasions, and 58% of those voters who never attend church felt the Kerrys consider themselves religious. Only 34% of regular church-goers, 29% of weekly church-goers, 22% of special occasion church-goers, and 28% of those who never attend church felt the Kerrys claim to be practicing Catholics for purely political reasons.

Visit www.olearyreport.com for complete poll results and cross-tabulations and take the Bush-Kerry presidential test at www.bushkerrytest.com sponsored by the OLeary Report.
                    
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politics john kerry george w bush religion catholic election

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