The Outsider Perspective Issue 432 | The Beltway Outsiders

If you’d like to read this issue on my website, click here! If you’d like to sign-up, and receive this in your inbox each week, click here! Read past issues here.

Good Friday Morning! Except for the man who tried to smuggle around $10,000 of cocaine through an airport in his… toupee. Columbian police caught the man with a “narco wig” with several bags placed under the hairpiece. Videos show them cutting the wig off of his head.

And that’s got to be one of the most humiliating ways to get busted. You’re in a drug bust in the middle of an airport, and you didn’t have a believable wig. As the viral video guy Steven He would say, “Emotional Damage!”

This week, I’m diving into the latest Pew Research report, which shows how religious Americans are and how that impacts the political sphere – links to follow.

Quick Hits:

Trump endorses a ‘clean continuing resolution’ through September. Late Thursday, Trump tweeted out and blamed Biden for the budget mess. He’s looking to punt government funding to the end of September to give himself more time to negotiate with Congress. Whatever they end up passing will define the midterm elections.
Gene Hackman’s autopsy could take weeks. Police have ruled Hackman and his wife’s deaths as “suspicious.” There’s no suicide note, the door was open to the residence, they were found in different rooms, and there’s no sign of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning. There’s no clear explanation for what happened. His death occurred just days before the Oscars, which is scrambling to include Hackman in the ceremonies.
The American Almanac has over 10,000 subscribers! My continuing thanks to those of you subscribing, sharing, and helping us grow. Subscribe here for free.

Where you can find me this week

Please subscribe, rate, and review The Horse Race on YouTube — the reviews help listeners, and readers like you find me. Make sure to sign up for the Conservative Institute’s daily newsletter and The American Almanac.

Donald Trump’s New Monroe Vision For The World – Conservative Institute

DOGE Firings Uncover Treason In National Security – Conservative Institute

The Great Jeffrey Epstein Reveal Farce – Conservative Institute

Religion Increasingly Defines Politics As Much As College Degrees

Pew Research’s “Religious Landscape Study“ is out, and it’s an interesting read, as usual. After reading it, a second story polling Americans on another hot issue made me return to Pew Research’s study. But I’ll get to that later.

First, the main headline: Christianity’s skid in the United States has stopped, at least for now:

The latest RLS, fielded over seven months in 2023-24, finds that 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christians. That is a decline of 9 percentage points since 2014 and a 16-point drop since 2007.

But for the last five years, between 2019 and 2024, the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable, hovering between 60% and 64%. The 62% figure in the new Religious Landscape Study is smack in the middle of that recent range.

The largest subgroups of Christians in the United States are Protestants – now 40% of U.S. adults – and Catholics, now 19%. People who identify with all other Christian groups (including the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses and many others) total about 3% of U.S. adults.

Both Protestant and Catholic numbers are down significantly since 2007, though the Protestant share of the population has remained fairly level since 2019 and the Catholic share has been stable since 2014, with only small fluctuations in our annual surveys.

Outside of that, 29% of Americans say they have no religion at all. That is atheist, agnostic, or nothing defined. That matches previous years’ highs.

Many things stand out to me in this study, and if you like these things, just read the whole Pew Research study. However, I will focus on the political split in the survey.

There’s a stark divide between liberals and conservatives on religion:

Today, 37% of self-described liberals identify with Christianity, down from 62% in 2007, a 25-point decline. Meanwhile, 51% of liberals now say they have no religion, up from 27% in 2007, a 24-point increase. There are now more religious “nones“ than Christians among liberals, a reversal since 2007.

Conversely, 82% of conservatives identify as Christian, down from 89% in 2007. Moderates match the national average, with 62% identifying as Christian, a drop from 77% in 2007.

When examining the Democratic Party’s shrinking base, the religious angle is something to note. While fewer people identify as religious than a decade ago, Americans are still overwhelmingly Christian. And Democrats are increasingly dominating the smallest set.

For comparison, look at the three oldest leaders of the Democratic Party. Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer mention their faith – even though Schumer is Jewish. Conservative attacks on Pelosi and Biden both focus on them being lapsed Catholics.

Compare them to the younger leadership: Hakeem Jefferies, Kamala Harris, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and more. There is scarcely a hint of religiosity in this group. In 2007, 62% of liberals identified as Christian. That’s why Barack Obama even talked about being Christian and going to church. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons were a serious issue for him.

You’re not seeing that anymore. Joe Biden was Catholic and made a deal out of being a Catholic guy from Scranton. I can’t identify anyone who could even pull that off as schtick in the Democratic Party. Even on MSNBC, you see this trend, with really the only semblance of an older religious talking head being Al Sharpton.

On a personal level, I was thinking about this while watching my liberal friends have daily meltdowns on social media. A few of them are religious, and they point that out. But overwhelmingly, the majority is not religious, and they loudly attack anyone else who is.

One more point: Another survey was dropped this week from Gallup. It was measuring American support for Israel. For the first time since Gallup has asked that question, a majority of members of a main political party disapproved of Israel. Only 33% of Democrats had a favorable view of Israel, with 60% viewing it unfavorably.

That’s not just a majority; it’s a decisive majority. On the flip side, 83% of Republicans have a favorable view of Israel, with only 13% viewing the country disfavorably.

It’s an astonishing thing to consider: Israel experienced one of the most barbaric terrorist attacks on record from Hamas on October 7, and it is not moving Democrats. If anything, they’re moving more toward the Hamas position.

That’s why these university protests are such a problem. The old guard of Democrats, like Pelosi, Schumer, and others, have power and can push back against those hordes. But Jefferies, AOC, and the rest will not.

It’s hard not to see the religious overlays on this topic. Republicans are overwhelmingly Christian and view Israel unfavorably, and Democrats are increasingly not religious and view Israel/Jews unfavorably. If this lasts, the Jewish vote will get forcibly kicked out of the Democratic Party.

This is one way in which America’s religiosity impacts policy; there are many others. However, with two surveys dropping in the same week, you can see the overlaps between the two. Unless there’s a reversal on the left, a Great Awakening for liberals, these issues are going to get more stark.

Links of the week

Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks may have had accomplice, data shows, as investigators say FBI suppressing info – NYPost

Court appears likely to side with straight woman in reverse discrimination suit – SCOTUSBlog

Should the Charges Against Mayor Adams Now Be Dismissed With Prejudice … Because of Prosecutorial Misconduct? – Volokh Conspiracy

Another ‘debunked‘ story Trump was right about – Washington Examiner

Israel To Resume War in Gaza and ‘Eradicate Hamas,‘ Cutting Off Aid and Bombarding Strip with Troops – Free Beacon

Colorado SWAT Team Raids Wrong Apartment, Locks Innocent Family in Police Car: The cops tried to cover up their mistake after they “terrorized“ the family, according to a lawsuit. – Reason Magazine

Hawley/Sanders Credit Card Interest Cap Is a Gift to Payday Lenders and Loan Sharks: A bill that purports to lower borrowing costs will instead drive many people to more expensive lenders. – Reason Magazine

Mystery Disease Linked to Bats Kills Scores in Congo: Illness raises concerns that more diseases are spreading from animals to humans – WSJ

Top weather, climate agency NOAA the latest layoff target – Axios

Man pardoned of January 6 offenses shot dead by sheriff – TMZ

Mary Kate Cornett Parents Say They Felt ‘Helpless‘ Amid Internet Hoax – TMZ