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?

Some pictures are worth far more than a thousand words.

An openly gay Republican has a good shot at winning a Massachusetts congressional seat, thanks in part to the Democratic incumbent’s family scandal. While Republicans are much more likely to be opposed to same-sex marriage than Democrats, a PRRI survey conducted last year found that nearly half (49%) of Republican Millennials favor allowing gay and lesbian people to marry.

The New York Times’ Nate Silver calls Barack Obama a “reasonably clear favorite” as we head into the final stretch of the 2012 election. And even some GOP officials are conceding that Obama currently holds the advantage – although in the two months before the election, anything can happen.

Since the conventions, we’ve been hearing a lot about whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago. According to Pew, however, the answer to this question may have more to do with partisan affiliation than other factors like income.

An interesting new study shows that coastal metropolitan areas tend to be more racially diverse than metropolitan areas in the center of the U.S. However, diversity is making its way to America’s heartland: areas that are composed of a majority of white Americans have fallen from two-thirds in 1980 to one-third in 2010. For more on Americans’ perspectives on increasing diversity in their country, check out this survey.

Last week, religious leaders from different traditions (including two PRRI board members) gathered to discuss what it means to be a person of faith in a liberal democracy.

Just so we’re clear, Obama knows how to crack a good birther joke too.

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