The new survey shows that among religious groups, 52 percent of white evangelical Protestant voters (regardless of party affiliation) think Trump would make a “good” or a “great” president. Evangelicals express a similar degree of confidence that Carson (52 percent) and Cruz (49 percent) would be successful presidents. They are less convinced that other Republican candidates would be good presidents. And few evangelical voters think Bernie Sanders (16 percent) or Clinton (15 percent) would be good presidents.
On the Democratic side, the view that Sanders and Clinton would be good presidents is most common among black Protestants and religiously unaffiliated voters (i.e., religious “nones”). Fully half of religiously unaffiliated registered voters (51 percent) think Sanders would be a successful president, while 42 percent think Clinton would be a good or great president. Among black Protestant voters, 62 percent think Clinton would be a “good” or a “great” president, while 36 percent say this about Sanders. Among both groups, just 15 percent or fewer think any of the Republican candidates would be good presidents.
The survey finds that 68 percent of U.S. adults believe that religion is losing influence in American society. And most who hold this view—51 percent of all U.S. adults—say they think religion’s declining influence is a bad thing for American society.
The survey also shows that 40 percent of Americans think there has been too little expression of religious faith and prayer by political leaders, compared with 27 percent who say there has been too much religious talk by politicians. These figures are considerably different from the results of a survey taken at a similar point in the 2012 presidential election cycle. At that time, there were more people who thought there was too much religious discussion (38 percent) than who said there wasn’t enough (30 percent).
Other key findings include:
Candidates are viewed as religious by more people in their own party than the opposing party. The biggest partisan gap on these questions is seen in views about Hillary Clinton; two-thirds of Democrats say she is “very” or “somewhat” religious, while two-thirds of Republicans express the opposite view, saying that she is “not too” or “not at all” religious.
Like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama is also seen as less religious today than in 2007; about one-third of adults (35 percent) now say Obama is “not too” or “not at all” religious, up from 9 percent in 2007.
Half of Americans (51 percent) believe religious conservatives have too much control over the GOP, and more than four-in-ten (44 percent) think that liberals who are not religious have too much control over the Democratic Party. Two-thirds of Democrats say the GOP has been co-opted by religious conservatives, while most Republicans reject this notion. Conversely, two-thirds of Republicans believe that secular liberals have too much power in the Democratic Party, while two-thirds of Democrats disagree.
One-quarter of adults (26 percent) say they would be less likely to vote for a gay or lesbian presidential candidate, while 69 percent say it would make no difference to their vote. Since 2007, the share of Americans who say a candidate’s sexual orientation would not matter in their vote has been steadily rising, while the share who say they would be less likely to support a gay or lesbian candidate has been declining.
There are more than twice as many Republicans who say they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who has been an elected official in Washington for many years as who would be more likely to support such a candidate (44 percent vs. 18 percent). Among Democrats, the balance of opinion leans in the opposite direction; 27 percent see extensive Washington experience as a positive, compared with 19 percent who see it as a liability.
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.
