I am intrigued by the fact that it seems that the religious affiliation of the candidates seems not to matter to voters now. It used to be presumed to be important that Mitt Romney was a Mormon or that George W. Bush was an evangelical. But most people probably can’t even name what denomination Hillary Clinton belongs to (lifelong Methodist) and Trump can’t really pretend he’s a true Presbyterian.
It also will be interesting how religious groups vote. A lot of conservative Christians who would normally vote Republican are really opposed to Trump; they don’t think he represents their values, being twice divorced, and previously supportive of abortion rights. And Hillary Clinton may not have any edge here, given that “Nones” – or religiously unaffiliated people – were among the biggest “religious group” supporting Obama in 2012. I would not be surprised if religious conservatives don’t vote in predictable blocs as they used to -- that the “God gap” is not as obvious between the candidates.
The most important thing I think voters should be watching is how do the candidates treat various religious groups, particularly non-Christians and especially Muslims? This spills into any number of issues, such as foreign policy, our relationship with other countries, our willingness to accept refugees and immigrants generally. It also connects to the important construction of religious liberty or religious freedom tenets in this country. What are being called “religious freedom bills” in states right now are not about protecting non-Christians, they are about protecting conservative Christians who are opposed to gay marriage or want to opt out of contraceptive mandates in ObamaCare. Because the next president will appoint a new Supreme Court justice, it’s important that it be a candidate who understands whose liberty really needs protecting.