Michigan Protestants Pick Romney Over Huckabee

Fascinating exit polling data from Michigan.

Picture this: Protestants and catholics who attend church weekly picked Romney over Huckabeee 38-29 and 41-11, respectively. And the protestants who attend less often than weekly really tilted toward Romney, 38-9, over Huckabee. Voters who separately identified themselves as “born again” or “evangelical” favored Romney by a smaller margin, 34-29. What this proves, I hope, is that Iowa’s protestants are in a class by themselves.

Huckabee was favored over Romney by only 3 of 53 poll categories. These three were those

to whom the religious beliefs of the candidates mattered “a great deal”(37-29)

who said abortion should always be illegal (35-31)

of all religions who attend church more than weekly (37-33)

Worth noting is that those who

never attend Church favored McCain over Romney 39-28

saw Romney’s ties to Michigan as important on some level voted 58 percent for Romney.

Given the fact that the Democrats had a bye yesterday and McCain’s unseemly efforts to win cross-over votes from Dems and Independents, Romney’s Michigan victory, on a psychological level, rates a triple if not a home run. We’ll see if the Michigan after-glow lights a fire in South Carolina.

Good to keep in mind that the GOP has imposed a 50% convention-voting penalty on delegations from states holding primaries prior to Feb 5th. The details of the system are a bit arcane, but (thanks to my sister, Kari Mackay, for the tip) the NYT offers an in-depth look.