NH Catholics favoring Obama

A poll by St. Anselm College finds Sen. Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights, with a narrow lead over Sen. John McCain, who opposes abortion, among Catholic likely voters in New Hampshire. The poll found Obama up 43 percent to 39 percent among Catholics.

Among evangelicals, who make up a much smaller portion of the New Hampshire electorate, the poll found McCain ahead 54 percent to 29 percent.

Overall, the poll, conducted for the college's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, finds Obama ahead of McCain by a 12 point margin:

When asked whom they plan to vote for in the Nov. 4 general election, 49% of respondents said Obama and 37% answered McCain. Another 11% said they are undecided, but among those who have selected a candidate, 88% say they will not change their mind. "The results are significant and show upward movement for Obama, but it is still early in the world of elective politics,” said Michael Dupre, NHIOP senior fellow, who designed the poll. “The trends in this poll give us helpful data, but this race remains volatile and numbers leading up to Election Day will reflect that."

Over at Spiritual Politics, Mark Silk says the results provide evidence for his hypothesis that "evangelicals in the North are significantly more likely to prefer Obama than their co-religionists in Dixie.''