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Religion matters in U.S. politics, and has increasingly come to assume an important role in American electoral politics. Indeed, the concept of the �God Gap,� in which religiosity is a stable source of partisan identification and vote choice, has become something of a cliché in both journalistic and academic circles.
That said, there does seem to be a paucity of studies in which the electoral effects of religion are considered as variables, which differ across candidates and political contexts. To illustrate, I have often been intrigued by the fact that recent Republican presidents have been members of mainstream denominations (Reagan as a Disciple of Christ, George H. W. Bush as an Episcopalian, and George W. Bush as a Methodist) who were conversant in the vernacular of evangelicalism. By contrast, GOP candidates who are identified with narrower traditions (e.g., Rick Santorum, Pat Robertson) have been considerably less successful.
In Religious Rhetoric and American Politics, Christopher Chapp addresses the variable nature of religious values (in particular, religious rhetoric) in a more systematic fashion. Chapp�s main argument is quite simple: There exist three approaches to religion that political candidates may take. Candidates may choose to emphasize the values of �civil religion,� which involves the use �
