In a somewhat surprising development, evangelical leaders and voters appear to be more slightly supportive of Trump at this point in the campaign then they were four years ago with Mitt Romney. "Now, fully,78% of white evangelical voters say they would vote for Trump if the election were held today, including about a third who `strongly' back his campaign" (http://www.pewforum.org/2016/07/13/evangelicals-rally-to-trump-re ligious-nones-back-clinton/).

Pew pointed out that "White evangelical Protestants make up one-fifth of all registered voters in the U.S. and roughly one-third of all voters who say they identify with or lean toward the Republican Party."

Pew also found that "religiously unaffiliated voters - those who describe their religion as "atheist," "agnostic" or "nothing in particular" - are lining up behind Hillary Clinton over Trump, much as they supported Barack Obama over Romney in 2012."

Despite the fact that many evangelicals "do not think [Trump] shares their religious commitment," most believe that he "understands the needs of people like them. Indeed, fully six-in-ten white evangelical voters (61%) say they think Trump understands their needs `very' or `fairly' well, while just 24% say this about Clinton."

In almost every issue area Pew inquired about, including "gun policy," combatting terrorism, "improving economic conditions," "reducing influence of lobbyists," "making wise trade policy decisions," "selecting Supreme Court justices," "dealing with health care," "dealing with race relations," evangelical voters overwhelmingly prefer Trump to Clinton.

"Trump is not a true believer in any sense, both religiously and on the issues, but he's speaking to them," said J. Tobin Grant, a professor of political science at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and a columnist at the Religion News Service. "He's actively courting them, and that's what the activists want. They want to have a seat at the table, and they felt they didn't have that with Romney."

Pew reported that their survey "also shows that large numbers of both Clinton and Trump supporters view their choice as more of a vote against the opposition candidate rather than an expression of support for their candidate. Furthermore, overall satisfaction with the choice of candidates is at its lowest point since 1992, with roughly four-in-ten voters (41%) saying the choice between Clinton and Trump is a tough one because neither would make a good president."

The Pew survey also found that Catholic voters - one-third of whom are Hispanics -- are supporting Clinton over Trump by 17 points, "a significant shift from the 2012 presidential race, when Election Day exit polls showed Catholics split almost evenly between Mr. Romney and the Democratic incumbent, President Obama," The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein recently pointed out.

In addition, those who claim no religion and are classified as "nones," back Mrs. Clinton by 68 percent to 26 percent.

A recent Public Religion Research Institute-Brookings survey found white evangelical Protestants uneasy about the demographic and cultural changes taking place in the country.

According to the Rev. Robert Jeffress, the influential senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and a prominent member of Mr. Trump's evangelical advisory committee, evangelicals have been looking for someone muscular and brash enough to fight back against what many view as concerted attacks on Christians in this country. They appear to have found their man in Donald Trump.