Remember the warm reception that Rudy got when he spoke at Regent University back in July? Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson all-but-endorsed him then, and just made it official the other day at the National Press Club in Washington.

The announcement came on the heels of Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) snagging endorsements from Moral Majority co-founder Paul Weyrich, and Bob Jones III; Sen. Sam Brownback (KS) throwing his support to erstwhile presidential rival Sen. John McCain (AZ); Christian activist Gary Bauer becoming a Fred Head; and Rick Scarborough giving his nod to fellow Baptist, Fmr. Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR) – along with American Family Association founder Donald Wildmon.

Aside from needing a scorecard to keep all these endorsements by conservative Christian leaders straight, what does this all mean? Here’s the MSM take:

† “Despite efforts by some conservative Christian leaders to unify behind a candidate — including threats from a few to create a third party if Giuliani becomes the nominee — no single Republican appears to be winning the lion’s share of support in that community.” (The Washington Post)

† “It was the latest manifestation of the deep divide in the Christian conservative movement over how to balance politics and principle in the coming era after President Bush, who once so deftly brought it all together.” (The New York Times)

† “In the latest evidence that evangelical Christians are as split as the rest of the Republican voters, Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani … This election is forcing the evangelical community to decide whether it is more important to choose a candidate who shares their views or someone who can beat Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.” (The Wall Street Journal; subscription required).

† “[I]t … underscored the splintering in the Christian conservative community and raises questions about whether evangelicals - who played a key role in electing President Bush in 2000 and 2004 - will be an important force in the presidential election.” (The Boston Globe)

† “The division among Christian conservatives reflects a schism between purists motivated primarily by social issues and pragmatists looking to beat Hillary Rodham Clinton.” (The Dallas Morning News)

But maybe something else is going on here. Instead of being fractured, deeply divided – or flailing about like headless chickens – a new market research report suggests that a better way to think of one significant segment of religious voters - Evangelicals – is “diverse.”

In an article detailing the findings of a report by Marketresearch.com, Marketing Daily notes that Christian Evangelicals now comprise a third of all American adults (69.5 million) - and that Evangelicals have “a complex and sometimes contradictory profile.” This diversity is likely present amongst other groups of religious voters as well.

A top-line summary of key demographic and psychographic findings (refer to the Marketing Daily article for all the relevant stats):

† Likelihood of being Evangelical increases with age.

† Women are somewhat more likely to be Evangelicals

† Roughly one third each of white, black and Hispanic adults are Evangelicals.

† Evangelicals are most likely to live in the South (38.6 percent), and least likely to live in the Northeast (23.1 percent).

† Evangelicals are fairly evenly distributed in terms of personal and household incomes.

† Evangelicals comprise a variety of denominations, with Baptists and Catholics being the most predominant (22.3 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively). The balance comprises small percentages of Protestant denominations and Pentacostals or Charismatics.

† Fewer than half of Evangelicals (43 percent) are Republican. Of these, 50 percent are conservatives and 35 percent are moderates.

† Evangelical adults are 55 percent less likely to be “somewhat liberal” politically and 75 percent less likely to endorse left-leaning politicians. Just 1.3 percent describe themselves as “very liberal.”

Based on this data, one of Marketresearch.com’s recommendations to marketers is that “it’s particularly critical to research the demographics and psychographics of the segments being targeted. Knowing where they fall along the continuum of moderate to conservative is most critical of all.”

It’s sound advice for pundits, too.

Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog.

Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here