Posted on 09/18/2012 9:59:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Whither the Catholic vote in this election? Late last week, a poll showed Obama ahead by eight among Catholic registered voters (to which I've lost the link), although the data didn't come from one of the regular national pollsters such as Pew, Gallup, or Rasmussen. With Abortion-Palooza in Charlotte still ringing in the ear and the provocative HHS contraception mandate threatening religious liberty --- as well as Paul Ryan's supposedly apostate budget in the mix --- the Catholic vote may end up being critical to the outcome, or at least a bellwether of it.
National Catholic Register asked Archbishop Charles Chaput about his own personal take on the election, Barack Obama’s support for abortion, and the Ryan budget, and Chaput declined the opportunity to tell his flock how to vote. However, he wasn’t shy about sharing his own personal view on the presidential election, and strongly rebutting the argument that there is an equivalence between abortion and cuts to government spending (via LifeNews):
We’re speaking on the night Barack Obama is delivering his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Let me ask flat-out: Do you believe a Catholic in good faith can vote for Obama?
I can only speak in terms of my own personal views. I certainly can’t vote for somebody who’s either pro-choice or pro-abortion.I’m not a Republican and I’m not a Democrat. I’m registered as an independent, because I don’t think the church should be identified with one party or another. As an individual and voter I have deep personal concerns about any party that supports changing the definition of marriage, supports abortion in all circumstances, wants to restrict the traditional understanding of religious freedom. Those kinds of issues cause me a great deal of uneasiness.
What about the wing of the church that says a party that supports the Ryan budget also ought to cause concern?
Jesus tells us very clearly that if we don’t help the poor, we’re going to go to hell. Period. There’s just no doubt about it. That has to be a foundational concern of Catholics and of all Christians. But Jesus didn’t say the government has to take care of them, or that we have to pay taxes to take care of them. Those are prudential judgments. Anybody who would condemn someone because of their position on taxes is making a leap that I can’t make as a Catholic. … You can’t say that somebody’s not Christian because they want to limit taxation. Again, I’m speaking only for myself, but I think that’s a legitimate position. It may not be the correct one, but it’s certainly a legitimate Catholic position; and to say that it’s somehow intrinsically evil like abortion doesn’t make any sense at all.That said, do you find the Ryan budget troubling?
The Ryan budget isn’t the budget I would write. I think he’s trying to deal with the same issue in the government I’m dealing with here locally, which is spending more than we bring in. I admire the courage of anyone who’s actually trying to solve the problems rather than paper over them. I think a vigorous debate about the issues, rather than the personalities, is the way through this problem. It’s immoral for us to continue to spend money we don’t have. I think that those persons who don’t want to deal with the issue are, in some ways, doing wrong by putting it off for their own political protection or the protection of their party.
Why immoral? We’re not spending our own money. We’re spending our grandchildren’s money. One can make an argument that this represents theft, or at least taxation without representation:
Chaput gives one of the clearest and easily-digestible answers on the difference for Catholics on budgets and abortions. One is in the realm of prudential judgments, while the other is intrinsically evil. That doesn’t mean that Catholics have to like Ryan’s budget, but it does mean that they shouldn’t use it as an excuse to support pro-abortion candidates, especially after the week-long celebration of the Democratic Party sacrament in Charlotte earlier this month.
How convenient, Eddie.
This is why I didn’t place a whole lot of value to Cardinal Dolan’s comments about Obamacare.
I’m not buying anything saying that the Dictator in Chief is ahead.
Not the Cardinal’s fault, but the entire Church had to come out and speak in one voice that a vote to re-elect Obama was tantamount to a mortal sin.
But they did not want to do that and upset the Social Justice contingent. So they tried to split the baby. So next year we may all be paying to split the baby, literally.
(But Obama is ahead among Catholics)
///
what is Ed smoking?
...he of all people, should know the libs lie with polls.
Obama is BEHIND with Catholics.
and with good things like this by Archbishop Chaput,
it is trending even more against Obama !
(even many black Pastors, are telling their flock,
to simply stay home!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2924122/posts
Obama’s 27% support among Catholics presents a huge advantage for Romney
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2923306/posts
New poll: Catholics to vote 3 to 1 against Obama; explains why Cardinal Dolan not welcome at DNC
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2922545/posts
Catholics Shift Away from Obama, Democratic Party
A lot of protestants are voting for him too, Pal!
RE: A lot of protestants are voting for him too, Pal!
Who’s him in this sentence?
Too much double talk from church leaders. The catholic church, with a few exceptions, is failing to lead on the issue of abortion. Typical.
At Mass on Sunday our Bishop said I cannot tell you who to vote for. But I can ask you to think. If you think you can take your Catholic faith for granted in this country th way this country is heading you are mistaken.
In front of me was a Latino man with a blue shirt with stenciled letters. “ANYBODY BUT OBAMA”
I will never understand how any Catholic or Christian of any denomination can vote for the abortion party!
what is wrong with these people?
“Obama’s 27% support among Catholics presents a huge advantage for Romney”
A new survey of 900 registered Catholic voters holds devastating news for Barack Obama that cannot be overstated.
It says the 54% of Catholic voter support he had in 2008 has dwindled to just 27% (MoE +/- 3 points); a historic low level that no one running for president can survive.
This 27% Catholic support for Obama will have important consequences for Obama and his Party in several states with sizable Catholic populations. While some might attempt to belittle this gap by pointing to the fact that only about 24% are “adherent Catholics” that argument is defeated by the fact that the survey found that 73% of respondents said they cannot support Obama because of his mandate forcing Catholic institutions to commit abortions and distribute contraceptive devices to their employees.
It says that by 3 to 1 self-identified Catholics are angry and insulted by Obama’s attempts to dictate their religious practice. Numbers this large indicate that whether these voters do or don’t attend Mass on a regular basis has nothing to do with these feelings of being insulted and threatened by this president.
By state here are the percentages of Catholics and the Electoral Vote value of each one.
Pennsylvania (53%) 20 EVs, New Jersey (39%) 14 EVs New Hampshire (35%) 4 EVs, Wisconsin (29%) 10 EVs, Florida (26%) 29 EVs New Mexico (26%) 5 EVs,
Minnesota (25%) 10EVs Colorado (24%) 9 EVs, Ohio (24%) 18 EVs, Iowa (23%) 6 EVs, Michigan (23%) 16 EVs, Missouri (20%) 10 EVs, Nevada (24%) 6 EVs, total 143 EVs.
With the exception of New Jersey, which is probably too far gone and has a very weak Republican Senatorial candidate, all of these states can be won by Mitt Romney because of the lopsided anti Obama sentiment among Catholics.
The most difficult of them to win are likely to be Wisconsin Ohio Minnesota and Michigan. When states that are “tied” or Romney is winning are separated out just Minnesota remains as a tough nut to crack among states that have at least a 20% Catholic populations.
Holding Minnesota’s 10 Electoral votes aside the EVs from these states add up to 133.
When combined with the 153 “in the bag” EVs from the South (even losing Virginia’s 11 EVs which is now a tie anyway) and other small states around the nation the grand total is 286.
Add to the fact that the Catholic Church will start a campaign after Labor Day reminding Catholics that Obamacare destroys their religious freedoms and Romney is in very good shape. The Democrats can have everything else. They can try to talk away the right track/wrong track numbers that show 6) 31/62 wrong track.
They can try to convince voters that 44 months of 8% plus unemployment means nothing, or that Obamacare robbing Medicare of $700 billion means nothing; or his support for Gay marriage and abortion even partial birth and born alive infanticides mean nothing; but nothing is go to improve Obama’s numbers with Catholics beyond nibbling around the edges.
Even if the 27% improves by half to 41% it will not help Obama. No Democrat President has ever lost the Catholic vote and won the presidency and Obama is way too far away at the end of August to win the Catholic vote to a win.
http://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2012/08/catholics-shift-away-from-obama-democratic-party/
RE: Barack Obama isn’t even close with Catholics. Where are you legitimate polling data?
_____________________________________
Here’s the data it is based on ( Just a mere one week ago )... Can you tell me what’s wrong with this article:
http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/12/poll-obama-holds-10-point-lead-over-romney-among-catholic-voters/
Poll: Obama holds 8-point lead over Romney among Catholic voters
Published: 12:50 AM 09/12/2012
EXCERPT:
A new poll by a Catholic advocacy group shows President Barack Obama has a slight lead over Gov. Mitt Romney among non-Hispanic Catholics, despite the stalled economy and his 2012 establishment of church regulations requiring them to fund contraception and abortion-related services that they abhor.
The poll of 2,629 likely Catholic voters, an unusually large sample, showed that 46.5 percent of non-Hispanic Catholics support Obama, while 45.6 percent support Romney.
The poll was commissioned by The Catholic Association, and it showed Obama getting 49 percent of Catholics overall, including those of Hispanic descent. Only 41 percent support Romney, while 10 percent are undecided.
Even if Romney wins every undecided non-Hispanic Catholic vote, he would only narrowly best Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s 52 percent share during his razor-thin victory in 2000. Bush won support from 56 percent of non-Hispanic Catholics during his comfortable win in 2004.
Even Sen. John McCain won 52 percent of the non-Hispanic Catholic vote in 2008, despite running a poor campaign against Sen. Barack Obama’s wave.
I’ll let you figure that out, genious!
ok, ok
genious=genius
That’s what get for being a smarta@@
RE: I’ll let you figure that out, genious!
You’ve done a very good job of not answering my question.
Your Bishop is an exception rather than the rule. Compared to other religions, Mormons especially, the Catholic church’s silence on the Obama policies is deafening.
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