Nation’s Democrats failing to narrow ‘religon gap’

WASHINGTON – What strategists call the “religion gap” between Democrats and Republicans may be widening, despite efforts by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and other prominent Democrats to talk about their faith and the religious underpinning of their positions.

A Pew Research Center poll released this week found that 29 percent of the public sees the Democratic Party as “generally friendly” toward religion, down from 40 percent a year ago and 42 percent in 2003. A 55 percent majority continues to see the GOP as friendly toward religion.

Scott Keeter, Pew’s director of survey research, said it appears that during the 2004 presidential race, Republicans succeeded in using Sen. John Kerry’s support for abortion rights to raise doubts about the sincerity of the Democratic nominee’s Catholic faith.

Since then, Keeter said, the charge that Democrats are anti-religious has been repeated in debates over judicial nominees, public displays of the Ten Commandments and the teaching of evolution in public schools.

The poll found, however, that both parties have weaknesses on religion. While 44 percent said non-religious liberals have too much control over the Democratic Party, 45 percent said religious conservatives hold too much sway in the Republican Party.