WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (AFP) - Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) believe it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs, according to a new poll out Tuesday.
A majority of respondents to the poll -- conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life -- said that Republican President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, show an adequate amount of faith.
Some 24 percent of Americans felt that Bush shows his faith too much, however, while 10 percent said the same for Kerry.
Fifty-two percent of those surveyed felt that Republicans were faith-friendly, compared with 40 percent who said the same for Democrats.
Sixty-four percent said that "moral values" will prove important in deciding how they vote in the November 2 presidential election.
Meanwhile, some 60 percent of poll respondents said they opposed gay marriage, while 29 percent supported it. Opposition ran particularly high among Republicans, 82 percent of whom were against gay marriage. Democrats, on the other hand, were divided. Forty-three percent supported same-sex marriage, while 46 percent were opposed.
On the issue of stem cell research, 52 percent said that its potential benefits outweighed the importance of preserving embryos.
The poll of some 1,512 Americans was carried out August 5-10.