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The nation's changing racial and ethnic profile will bring political change. But we can also expect it to elicit fear and resistance.

This election graphic from the Public Religion Research Institute is amazing. It breaks the population down by age, and then segments each age cohort by religious affiliation and race. Then it juxtaposes Obama's religious coalition of voters with the 18-29 group and Romney's with the 65+ folks. Here's what it looks like:

The presidential election revealed that the “God gap” in electoral politics remains as large as ever—and is much larger than the gender gap that was often touted during the campaign. Mark Silk summarizes it:

Those who said they attend worship weekly preferred Mitt Romney by 20 points, 59-39. Those who said they attend less frequently went for Obama by 25 points. That compares to a male preference for Romney of seven points and a female preference for Obama of 11.

How fervently one practices one’s religion is—apart from race—still the best predictor of how one votes.

I got up before dawn today. (My farmer wife does this every day; I try, with mixed results, to keep her hours.) We got to the polls just as they were opening.

For the first time in the eight or nine times I’ve voted in Chicago, my name wasn’t on the list. I had my voter registration card with me, so nobody challenged my eligibility. But I did have to cast a provisional ballot, which might or might not eventually be counted.