The Morning Buzz | March 26, 2012
Welcome to the Morning Buzz, PRRI’s morning dose of religion-related news with a shot of data – because what doesn’t liven up a morning round-up like some public opinion numbers? I thought I’d seen it all when I visited Denmark’s potato museum, but a restaurant in Cornwall has topped even that. The enterprising proprietors saved the food that was nearly ingested by the cafe’s famous patrons, and put the leftovers under glass. Who doesn’t want to see Prince Charles’ almost-masticated bread pudding?
Rick Santorum decisively won Saturday’s primary in Louisiana – and, as a result, Newt Gingrich’s days may be numbered. Santorum celebrated his victory by releasing a new ad that makes the near future (2014) look a bit like the apocalypse.
The New York Times revisited several issues that keep resurfacing during this race: Rick Santorum’s popularity among conservative women (to the point where Mitt Romney appeared to be losing female voters to both Obama and Santorum), and Mitt Romney’s seemingly intractable ”Mormon problem.”
Using some convoluted logic, Newt Gingrich explained that he “takes Obama at his word” that he’s a Christian – but that Obama’s friendliness toward non-Christian, non-Jewish faiths would explain why some might believe that Obama is a Muslim. “It’s not that they’re stupid,” Gingrich added. Last summer, approximately 1-in-5 (18%) Americans incorrectly identified Obama as a Muslim.
A new survey from the Pew Research Center revealed the top one-word reactions to GOP candidates. Pew found that far more respondents use the word “conservative” to identify Santorum than they do Romney.
On Friday, religious protesters gathered at locations across the country to voice their disapproval about the controversial contraception mandate, which is part of President Obama’s health care law. Currently, most (56%) Americans do not believe that the right of religious liberty is being threatened in America today. Nearly 4-in-10 (39%) Americans believe that religious liberty is being threatened, but among those who do only 6% referenced the contraceptive mandate as the reason why.
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