Poll: McCain leads among white churchgoers

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- White weekly churchgoers say they support Republican presidential nominee John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama by a 37-point margin, a poll indicates.

Among those who go to religious services nearly every week or monthly, McCain has a 12-point advantage.

Meanwhile, Obama has a 19-point advantage over McCain among those who seldom or never attend worship services, the Gallup poll indicates.

Gallup also found that black voters overwhelmingly support Obama regardless of their church attendance. The poll indicates that blacks who attend church weekly give Obama an 84-point margin, only slightly lower than the 92- and 88-point margins among blacks who attend almost every week or monthly and those who seldom or never attend religious services.

"A positive correlation between religious intensity and voting for the Republican candidate for president has been a part of the American political landscape for a number of years," Gallup said in its analysis.

The poll is based on telephone interviews with 23,111 registered voters, aged 18 and older, conducted Oct. 1 to Oct. 26. The maximum margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.