(CNN) -- As the mosque debate dominates the summer spin cycle, a new Pew Research Poll shows that an increasing number of Americans believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim -- now up to 18 percent from 11 percent in March 2009. At the same time, only a third of Americans say Obama is a Christian, down from nearly 50 percent last year. And while the biggest jumps in believing Obama is Muslim come from self-described conservative Republicans -- from 18 percent to 34 percent -- the number of Democrats who describe Obama as Christian fell from 55 percent to 46 percent. Independents -- while being the group least likely to want professions of religious beliefs from politicians -- have also fallen in with the drift.
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John Avlon says Pew poll found 18 percent of Americans believe Obama is Muslim
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The misconception ranges across political spectrum. Why is this happening, he asks?
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Political opponents are smart enough to know the truth, but like the controversy, he says
The absence of Obama attending Sunday services regularly has been a repeated "just askin'..." talking point on right wing news and radio -- and indeed, the Pew poll shows that most respondents got their "views" about @placeholder's religion from "the media."
While no responsible @placeholder would ever explicitly encourage these beliefs, there are plenty who delight in these poll findings because it presumably points to partisan gain.