Evangelical Hoosiers

The race in Indiana is tied at 45 each, according to a new Indianapolis Star poll. In this usually dependable red state, it is not good news for McCain that evangelicals are supporting him by less than 2-1 (57-33). In 2004, they backed Bush 77-22. Bush won Indiana by 21 points, 60-39. Evangelicals constitute 35 percent of the Hoosier vote, so their 31-point shift toward Obama represents about half the total shift in the partisan breakdown from 2004 to now. In other words, evangelicals in Indiana seem to be shifting disproportionately toward Obama. For a core (as opposed to a swing) constituency, that's big news indeed. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but once again it's Midwestern evangelicals who are proving susceptible to the Obama message.