GOP less popular with some churchgoers

The Republican Party is still popular among regular churchgoers but has declined with less regular worshippers, according to a Gallup poll released this week.

Since George W. Bush became president in 2001, the Republican Party has maintained its support only among frequent churchgoers and lost close to 10 percent of those Gallup called "least observant" and 6 percent of occasional churchgoers.

The findings had commentators and the blogosphere spinning.

"The findings confirm growing disenchantment with a party that is viewed as belonging primarily to older white males," Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker says.

Spiritual Politics blogger Mark Silk points out that occasional churchgoers was precisely the demographic that Democrats were aiming at during last year's presidential election. So they had great success with their target audience, but Silk notes they're still not having much luck with the more devout.