1. The American Political Landscape: Demographics and political predispositions 1.Sectionalism 2.Race/Ethnicity 3.Gender 4.Income 5.Education

2. Sectionalism and US Presidential Elections

3. 2004 Presidential Election

4. 2008 Presidential Election

5. Racial Make-up of US Population (2000 - 2010) 20002005 2010 WHITE75.1%/68%80.2%72.4/64% BLACK12.3%12.8%12.6% LATINO12.5%14.4%16.3% ASIAN3.6%4.3% 5% NAT. AM.0.9%1.0%

6. “Minorities” becoming a Majority? What are the fastest-growing segments of the US population? Are there any states where “minorities” are currently a majority? How might all of this affect American politics?

7. Median Income by Race (2006) WHITE$50,784 BLACK$30,858 LATINO$35,967 ASIAN$61,094 WHOLE POPULATION$48,451

8. Educational Attainment by Race (2005) HS DIPLOMACOLLEGE+ WHITE90.1%30.5% BLACK81.5%17.7% LATINO58.6%12.0% ASIAN89.4%49.8%

9. Gender and Politics The “Gender Gap” is the difference in the percentage of women and men who support a particular candidate. Women tend to support Democrats more than men and men tend to support Republicans more than women. More women than men have voted in every election since 1964. A higher percentage of women than men has voted in every election since 1980.

10. Gender in Recent Elections 2000 MENWOMEN George W. Bush53%43% Al Gore42%54% 2004 MENWOMEN George W. Bush55%48% John Kerry44%51% 2008 MENWOMEN Barack Obama 49%56% John McCain48%43%

11. Religious Identification in US (Source: 2001 Gallup Poll) PROTESTANT51% CATHOLIC25% JEWISH2% EASTERN ORTHODOX1% MORMON1% SPECIFIC OTHER3% NONE8% UNDESIGNATED5%

12. Religious Identification Among Registered Voters (2001) PROTESTANT49.5% CATHOLIC19.9% JEWISH2.3% MORMON1.4% ATHEIST/AGNOSTIC7.1% NON-RELIGIOUS/NO RESPONSE10% OTHER10%

13. Do you think churches should express their views on day-to-day social and political issues? (SOURCE: Pew Research Poll, July 2006) YES51% NO46%

14. President Bush talks about his faith... (SOURCE: 2006 Pew Research Poll) THE RIGHT AMOUNT52% TOO LITTLE14% TOO MUCH24%

16. After asking potential voters how religious they thought the major 2008 presidential candidates were, the Pew Research Center then asked the same potential voters how favorably they viewed each of the candidates. What might the results tell us about the importance of a candidate’s religiosity?

17. Is God not as cool as He used to be?

23. Poverty in America The Poverty Line (from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2006) Single person$10,210 Family of four$20,650 Americans Living Below the Poverty Line All ages12.3% Under 1817.4%

24. Attitudes Toward the Poor Americans have traditionally been suspicious of government assistance to the poor. Why?

25. According to this Pew Research Center poll, there are some interesting trends in political attitudes associated with poverty and religion. What might explain the changes?

26. Party Identification Ultimately, the best predictor of voting behavior is party identification. Party ID is defined as the political party with which an individual most identifies. Some of those who “identify” with a particular party are registered as independents.