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Voters show they are more willing to accept a non-traditional candidate. (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com)

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There was a time when the idea of a presidential candidate being Catholic was a major controversy. But 55 years after America elected John F. Kennedy, public attitudes have made a seismic shift.

A new Gallup poll found the majority of Americans would support a variety of non-traditional candidates, ranging from widespread acceptance of a female candidate to lower support for a candidate who describes themselves as an atheist. Only one category - a socialist candidate - received less than 50 percent support among those polled, an interesting figure considering Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, is surging in the polls.

Here's what Gallup found in Americans' willingness to vote for presidential candidates of various backgrounds:

Catholic candidate - 93 percent

Female candidate - 92 percent

Black candidate - 92 percent

Hispanic candidate - 91 percent

Jewish candidate - 91 percent

Mormon candidate - 81 percent

Gay or lesbian candidate - 74 percent

Evangelical Christian candidate - 73 percent

Muslim candidate - 60 percent

Atheist candidate - 58 percent

Socialist candidate - 47 percent

The numbers above include an average of all U.S. adults. The poll broke down those results based on people's religious backgrounds and that's where we see the difference in levels of support.

For example, 82 percent of protestants said they would support an evangelical Christian candidate compared to 57 percent of those who said they had no religious affiliation. Support for a socialist candidate varies from 28 percent among protestants to 46 percent among Catholics to 74 percent of those with no religious affiliation.

So how does Gallup interpret the results? Here's what they said: "The chances that an avowed atheist, or a socialist like Bernie Sanders, would be victorious in the general election would depend on not only overcoming broad public disapproval of his or her beliefs, but jumping ahead of more mainstream diverse candidates. These would include Hillary Clinton representing women and Marco Rubio representing Hispanics -- candidates who, on paper, are better positioned to break through the oval ceiling."