Obama draws support from young Christians

SEATTLE, May 11 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has drawn support from an unlikely source: young evangelical Christians, observers say.

Michael Dudley is among born-again Christians who plan to support the Illinois senator should be become the Democratic nominee, The Seattle Times reported Sunday.

"I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for," said Dudley, a 20-year-old Republican and a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University.

A September 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that 15 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 29, a group that traditionally votes Republican, say they no longer identify with the GOP.

Shane Claiborne, a Philadelphia Christian activist and author of "Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals," calls Obama's young evangelical supporters "political misfits."

"It's not about liberal or conservative, or Democrats or Republicans," he said. "I don't think it's a new evangelical left. ... There's a new evangelical stuck-in-the-middle."