When push comes to shove, I think the majority of Catholics will vote for McCain; I hope!
Posted on 04/28/2008 6:05:51 PM PDT by Coleus
Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.), a Catholic congressman who endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president, told Cybercast News Service Wednesday that despite Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) failure to capture Catholic voters in the Pennsylvania primary, the majority of Catholics will vote for the Democratic candidate in the general election, whether it's Obama or Clinton. According to the exit poll of the Pennsylvania primary, church-going Democrats picked Clinton over Obama on Tuesday, with Catholic voters especially lining up behind Clinton.
Among all Democratic primary voters who said they attend church weekly, Clinton beat Obama 61 percent to 39 percent. Among Catholics who attend church weekly, she beat him 74 percent to 26 percent. This represents a dramatic shift from the Feb. 19 Democratic primary in Wisconsin, where Obama defeated Clinton 58 percent to 41 percent. In that state, Obama defeated Clinton 55 percent to 44 percent among Democratic voters who attend church weekly.
Clinton did win in Wisconsin among Catholic voters who attend church weekly, but by a much smaller margin (53 percent) than the 74 percent she took in Pennsylvania. The shift is significant because Catholic Democrats in northern states have been a key swing vote in recent presidential elections. In 2004, President Bush defeated Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) 52 percent to 47 percent among Catholic voters nationwide even though Kerry is a Catholic. In Ohio, widely viewed as the state that tipped the Electoral College to the Republicans, Bush beat Kerry 65 percent to 35 percent among Catholics who attend church weekly.
"I will vote, come November, for the Democratic candidate, whoever that may be," Kildee told Cybercast News Service. "I predict the majority of Catholics will choose the Democratic ticket come November. "The Catholic vote is split," he said. "There is no question about it. There are various issues that split the Catholic vote, but the one thing that does pull it together is what I call the social gospel: treatment of the working people, and treatment of the poor. That tends to pull the Catholic vote together.
"Whichever candidate can show they care about these things will garner the Catholic vote," Kildee added. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has also endorsed Clinton, expressed a similar sentiment. "I didn't see any of the numbers," he told Cybercast News Service. "But that shift seems to show the great ability Hillary Clinton has to talk to average folks about their concerns. They came out and voted for her last night."
Kildee said he could not speculate on why church-going voters may have shifted their support from Obama to Clinton. "Pennsylvania is an older state. Its political involvement is different than Wisconsin," he said. "When you get to the Midwest, there are probably other issues. It could be an interesting analysis, but it might also take a PhD. It's more analysis then I can give right now." Kildee said he stayed up until midnight Tuesday watching the results come in.
How can Catholics (that claim to be pro-life) keep their pro-life credibility and vote for a candidate that is pro-abortion like Hillary or Obama?
The RCC is pro-life. And this isn’t just the opinion of the Pope - like concerning the war in Iraq - this is doctrine.
Social gospel??? Why does that sound an awful lot like the Rev. Wright? Oh, because they mean socialist gospel, I guess. They mean they are union voters who vote the union ticket, no matter what.
The way dimocRATS bash the Catholics I can’t understand why they vote for them. Then again I don’t understand the Jewish vote either.
Not this Catholic. Ever.
You are so right GSC but you and I live with this mind disease here. It’s all about abortion.
My “Catholic” siblings and relatives bow to the Democrats
They have no idea why, they just do it.
I haven’t been able to take myself to Church in 14 months,
I live my religion, I don’t attend it.
Between the Boston Arch Diocese and all of the dead friends and relatives I have.. I cannot support a Church that surreptitiously supports Child Predators, Abortionists, and Illegal Immigrants.
Benedict gave me some hope with his visit.
I’ll leave it at that.
Catholics who darken the door of a church only at weddings, funerals, Christmas and Palm Sunday tend to vote Democrat.
Of the many Catholics I know and have worked with (and I am not Catholic by the way) two are writing in Ron Paul and one is voting for McCain.
The others are unsure depending on who gets the Dem nod. If it is Clinton, though, most of them have said they will likely vote for her.
Blame the Conferemce of Bishops. The most despicable politicians in the country are Catholic. All pro abotion, and anti-American. Kennedy, Kerry, Pelosi, etc. The two most Catholic states Massachusetts and California. These for the most part are liberal pro abortion states.
This has been going on for years. Until the church deals with the most prominant Catholics that are really not Catholic, the Democrat party will prevail.
Blame the Conferemce of Bishops. The most despicable politicians in the country are Catholic. All pro abotion, and anti-American. Kennedy, Kerry, Pelosi, etc. The two most Catholic states Massachusetts and California. These for the most part are liberal pro abortion states.
This has been going on for years. Until the church deals with the most prominant Catholics that are really not Catholic, the Democrat party will prevail.
My brothers and sister and their children’s families are Catholics who won’t be voting for HRC or BHO.
This is one of the main reasons I left the catholic church.
I was a small child in favor of Goldwater back in 1964. I was so outnumbered, it was embarrassing. Until they stop their involvement in politics, I will remain NON CATHOLIC.
I have a big family. I am the patriarch. Any vote for a democrat results in immediate removal from the will. :-}
You’ve committed what St. Francis de Sales called spiritual suicide.
If I find a prolife democrat, maybe I would vote for him/her.
Otherwise, it’s not gonna happen.
Sadly, too many American Roman Catholics are very much the “salad bar” sort and are reliably Democrat in their voting. A series of Popes maintaining, effectively, that war is never justified by condemning any military action, even when it liberates millions from oppresion only makes things harder for us.
Perhaps.
I am truly Conflicted.
You can call me anything that you want.
It’s just another notch in my belt .
I love my God and my faith in Catholicism but I haven’t the least amount of faith in the Human Beings who are the current harbingers.
Thanks for helping me to see the negatives so well.
So Catholics will vote for the militantly PRO-ABORTION Party???
When push comes to shove, I think the majority of Catholics will vote for McCain; I hope!”
So you agree they will vote democrat?
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