Maybe Rick Perry is on to something.
The Public Religion Research Institute is out with a poll exploring Americans’ beliefs on a number of big issues. While belief in evolution is held by a majority of citizens (57 percent) as is global warming (69 percent), majorities still say that a Presidential candidate’s belief in either would not affect whether they would vote for them.
From the organization’s report on the poll:
A majority (53%) of Americans say that if a candidate does not believe in evolution, it would have no effect on their likelihood of voting for the candidate. Among those who say it matters, more than twice as many say they would be less likely (32%) than say they would be more likely (13%) to vote for the candidate.
White evangelical Protestants are the only demographic group among whom the balance is the other way: nearly one-third (32%) say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who did not believe in evolution, compared to 24% who say they would be less likely. Only 40% say a candidate’s belief in evolution would make no difference to their vote.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has stated on the campaign trail that evolution is a “theory that’s out there,” and hasn’t steered clear of other controversial attacks on science. He also suggested that climate change scientists are cooking their data in other to maintain funding. But the new poll suggests that global warming doesn’t make a massive dent for a majority of voters either:
A majority (54%) of Americans also say that if a candidate said they did not believe climate change is caused by human activity, if would have no effect on their likelihood of voting for the candidate. Among those who say it matters, four times as many say that they would be less likely (36%) than say they would be more likely (9%) to support a candidate who does not believe in human-caused climate change.
More than any other group, members of the Tea Party say that they would be more likely (33%) than less likely (24%) to support a candidate who does not believe in climate change. Only 16% of Republicans, 9% of independents, and 5% of Democrats say they would be more likely. Half of Democrats say it would make them less likely to support a candidate who did not believe climate change is caused by human activity.
The Public Religion Research Institute’s poll used 1,013 live telephone interviews with American adults conducted from September 14th to the 18th, with a sampling error of three percent.
