A July 2001 Gallup Poll analysis discussed several polls on the topic and showed the variance in public approval, which appeared to shift depending on whether respondents associated the initiative with Bush, and what charities they believed would benefit.

A November 2009 survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows Americans broadly support faith-based programs, and Democrats more so than Republicans, for the first time. Yet a strong majority also has concerns about possible church-state violations.

The Roundtable on Religion & Social Welfare Policy was funded by a Pew grant and ran from January 2002 through December 2008 under the aegis of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York. The Roundtable describes itself as “the preeminent source of expert, unbiased information on policy and legal developments […]

Read arguments from Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke University and lead researcher on the National Congregations Study, in which he cites evidence that Bush’s faith-based program “did not broadly change congregations’ behavior in terms of social service activity or their role in the social welfare system.” The comments are in […]

Read a December 2008 Brookings Institution report on faith-based programs. The report was prepared by E.J. Dionne Jr., senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings, and Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest University Divinity School’s Center for Religion and Public Affairs.

CNN has exit poll data: Click on the “Results” tab and go to “Exit Polls.” The second page has most of the breakdowns by religion.

According to this Dec. 19, 2008, survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, most members of Congress are Protestant, as is most of the country.

An Aug. 27, 2007, Christian Science Monitor profile of Biden, “A frank and abiding faith,” is a good starting point for exploring his personal religious views.

In the Aug. 7, 2008, edition of Time magazine, Obama wrote a brief essay, “Changing Hearts and Minds,” which sets out his personal faith story.