The 2016 Presidential Campaign has been a long and tumultuous road, but we’re finally in the home stretch. Since February, Barna has been chronicling the opinions and attitudes of the American public toward this historic campaign, so in honor of Election Day, here’s a recap of our coverage:
In February, we looked at the role of faith as a focal point of the 2016 presidential election, specifically how the five unique personal faith segments in America—evangelicals, non-evangelical born again Christian, notional Christians, people associated with non-Christian faiths, and religious skeptics—held substantially different attitudes and candidate preferences.
In March, we found that surprisingly few voters were closely following the primary process. Contrary to past election cycles, evangelical Christians were actually the faith group least engaged with the presidential race, despite the fact they were the religious segment most likely to characterize the outcome of this year’s presidential election as extremely important to the future of the United States.
Also in March, we discovered that many Americans believed the bible is the key to better politics. In partnership with American Bible Society, we found that half of American adults said politics would be more civil if politicians engaged in regular Bible reading.
In April, the consensus was that issue positions were the single most important reason American adults were choosing a candidate. Issue positions were named as the most important influence nearly three times as often as the next highest-rated influences, which included leadership qualities and a candidate’s experience and track record.
Our study in May revealed how most American registered voters were displeased with the status quo. A vast majority indicated they believed the United States was headed in the wrong direction and were frustrated with the federal government. Voters also displayed some of the lowest approval ratings for the two presumptive party nominees: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
After Clinton and Trump secured their respective party nominations, Barna ran another major poll in October, which examined the faith and ideology of their supporters. Trump won over the majority of right leaning faith segments and other conservative lifestyle segments, while Clinton won over less religious groups, and more liberal lifestyle segments.
Another key piece in October identified which candidate was seen as having more of the qualities expected of a president. Looking at qualities like “presidential,” “respected by other leaders,” “able to work with people who have different views” and “effective communicator,” Hillary Clinton was more likely than Donald Trump to be associated with six of the eight qualities examined.
And finally, our most recent piece reveals how religious beliefs are the most likely influence on who people will vote for in this year’s presidential contest. Among other influences like family members, news media, and friends, the lowest overall ranked influence is the pastor of the respondent’s church. However, pastors were the second highest influence among evangelical voters.
A native New Yorker, George Barna has filled executive roles in politics, marketing, advertising, media, research and ministry. He founded the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group) in 1984 and helped it become a leading marketing research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to numerous corporations and non-profit organizations, as well as to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.
To date, Barna has written 48 books, mostly addressing leadership, trends, church health and spiritual development. They include best-sellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, and The Power of Vision. His most recent book is Revolutionary Parenting. Several of his books have received national awards. He has had more than 100 articles published in periodicals and writes a bi-weekly research report (The Barna Update) accessed by more than a million people each year, through his firm’s website (www.barna.org). His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as "the most quoted person in the Christian Church today" and has been named by various media as one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders.
He is a popular speaker at ministry conferences around the world and has taught at Pepperdine and Biola Universities and several seminaries. Barna served as a pastor of a large, multi-ethnic church and has been involved in several church start-ups.
After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two Master's degrees from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was awarded the Eagleton Fellowship. He also received a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. He lives with his wife (Nancy) and their three daughters (Samantha, Corban, Christine) in southern California. He enjoys reading novels, watching movies, playing guitar, and relaxing on the beach.