The number’s even smaller when you remember that 21% of “atheists” believe in God. The few, the proud, the heretics:

Gallup decided to present the data in video format for some reason so you’ll have to sit through two minutes to see how the numbers by party identification compare. I never know what to make of the fact that I belong to such a tiny minority within my own side; there’s no reason I can think of why faith should be some essential part of conservatism and plenty of reason why it shouldn’t, i.e. cynicism about human nature should correlate to some degree with a more general skepticism, but 50 150 million right-wing believers can’t be wrong. (Actually, they can!)

Anyone want to try explaining this?

It’s unclear how they’re dividing “East” from “South” so I can only guess that the entire coast is being placed in the former category, which will drag the number of believers upwards as you cross the Mason-Dixon line. If not, then that is one indigo-blue bloc the Dems have got going from Washington down to the southern tip of Cali. WaPo looks at the numbers and sees doom for the GOP out west in the decades ahead if those numbers continue, but we’re already doomed in the coastal states. The question really is Arizona and New Mexico. Given the size of the very Catholic Latino populations there, are we really in that much trouble? Er, yeah — but not because of religion.