Religion, Politics, and Mississippi
For those of you who like looking at statistics on how conservative (or liberal), how Republican (or Democratic) or how religious (or not) a state is; Gallup has recently done some extensive polling and here is the information for the Magnolia State:
In Mississippi, 81 percent consider themselves Protestant or non-Catholic Christian. This represents the highest total in the nation. Similarly, just six percent consider themselves Catholic which is the lowest percentage in the country. And at just 5.8 percent who claim no religion (including atheist and agnostic), Mississippi also has the lowest percentage in the country in that statistic.
Mississippi ranks as the second most conservative state, with 48 percent considering themselves conservative. Alabama topped the list at 49 percent. Thirty-four percent consider themselves moderate, which is one of the lowest percentages in the country. Just 15 percent consider themselves liberal which gives the state a +33 net conservative scoring.
Party ID in Mississippi is very close with 44 percent of respondents calling themselves Republicans and 43 percent labeling themselves as Democrats. Interestingly, while Gallup showed all but three states to have a net conservative tilt ideologically, only four states have a significant GOP advantage in terms of party ID.
These numbers are very similar to CNN’s 2008 exit polls. At that time, 49 percent called themselves conservative, while moderates attracted 35 percent and 16 percent claimed to be liberal. For party ID, the GOP had a 45-40 advantage.
