Poll: 1 in 4 Texans say Obama is Muslim

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Nearly 1 in 4 Texans mistakenly believe Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim, more than twice the U.S. rate, a poll indicated.

Twenty-three percent of Texan adults are convinced Obama is a Muslim, compared with 5 to 10 percent of U.S. adults overall, the University of Texas poll said.

Obama is a mainline Protestant Christian whose United Church of Christ denomination is generally considered within the Reformed tradition.

He was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, the Houston Chronicle noted.

The Obama campaign had no immediate comment on the poll.

The poll shows Sen. John McCain running ahead of Obama in Texas 51 percent to 40 percent.

The telephone poll was conducted by the university's Texas Politics Project and Department of Government from Oct. 15 to 22, and had a probable margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.