Posted on 11/05/2004 12:14:34 PM PST by Joseph22
NEW YORK, USA, November 4 (CNA) - Results show that 52% of Catholics in the United States voted to re-elect President Bush over Sen. Kerry in Tuesday's elections. 47% of Catholics voted for Kerry. On their website, Priests for Life reported that Catholics represented 27% of all voters in this year's presidential election, meaning that 31,065,769 voters were Catholics. Among Catholics who attend Mass weekly Bush won by 56% - 43%.
In two of the swing states, Florida and Ohio, the margin of Bush's win among Catholics was even greater. In Florida, Bush received 57% of the vote to Kerry's 42% and in Ohio the split was 55% to 44%.
In both these states, 66% of Catholics who attend Mass weekly voted for Bush.
According to Priest for Life, "the President's agenda of respect for human life, the sanctity of marriage, and a more hopeful America have resonated with Catholic voters."
Even though Catholics are the majority in many PA counties, the old family tradition of voting Democratic still held. Esp. for inner city white working class, persons of East European ancestry.
It started during the massive wave of emigration from Ireland after the 1847-1850 famine, which created a massive bloc of potential Democratic voters that corrupt big city machines e.g. Tammany Hall, could exploit in future elections.
The candidacy of James Blaine, a.k.a. the "plumed knight", probably crystallized the division between Protestants and Catholics in terms of voting patterns.
After the success of F.D.R. among recent So. European immigrants during the '30s, this division was exacerbated and probably reached its apex during the Kennedy-Nixon contest in 1960.
Fortunately, there are now a lot of "Reagan Democrats" that are able to counteract the influence of previous generations of Democratic voters.
Considering the fact that President Bush had to tackle three completely distinct constituencies, I think that he did one hell of a job.
There are Catholics who attend Mass regularly, who may be religiously conservative but fiscally liberal. There are Catholics who are completely secular and who probably wouldn't vote for Bush under any circumstances. Finally, you have people who may have been baptized into the R.C. church-and were quite possibly active when they were children-but who have gradually drifted away from the Church. While they may be culturally conservative that doesn't necessarily make them devout Catholics.
If Bush managed to carry a majority among two out of these three groups-which appears to be the case-I think that his campaign staff did a phenomenal job and accomplished something that will stand the test of time.
Ping.
Good.
Our folks played a big part.
That's like Gore losing his home state of Tennessee.
Winking and nodding liberal bishops (along with certain cardinals) who equate social programs as equal to, if not greater than abortion, fetal stem-cell research, and traditional marriage, actually hampered those catholics who sought sound advice. That was the situation here in Albany NY, where non-committed catholic voters sought guidance from their "ultra" liberal bishop. They came away from last week's meeting with Bishop Howard Hubbard, more confused than when they entered.
There were NO ambiguous messages from my (Eastern Catholic Rite) Maronite pastor, who clearly indicated the most important issues in this (or any other) election campaign - the right to life came in #1, followed by the importance of retaining the sanctity of matrimony between a "man and a woman". He stated the positions of the Catholic Church and left no one confused. God bless him! God bless our Maronite bishop, Gregory John Mansour! God bless our Patriarch Cardinal Sfeir! AND God bless our Holy Father, John Paul II!
He MUST be the ONLY choice of the Republicans, IF the Dems run Hitlary. His right matches her left, so to speak.
This must hurt Kerry to know that a majority of his fellow Catholics turned their backs on him. There are liberals within the church who support abortion rights, but a growing number are against the culture of death, and if the Dems keep embracing a policy of abortion on demand, the Catholic vote is going to increase for the GOP. This is another constituent group that the Democrats have taken for granted, and now they're paying for it.
A believing Catholic with a properly formed conscience could not vote for Kerry. The trends are good but we still have a long way to go -- keep praying, witnessing, and educating!
Good! Now that will get the Catholic heirarchy's attention. Morals and values will get a larger part of the Sermon. I go to an old Mission for Mass north of here. Old, squeaky pews and 200 years old. I hope the Catholic Church gets the message. My ears are instinctively open for it.
Here you go!
I got the sense that Spanish priests don't put up with a lot of current cultural influences when I went to a Spanish-speaking church a few years ago. And many years ago I had the privelege of seeing a service at the cathedral in Toledo, Spain. Those folks mean business when it comes to beliefs.
Interesting statistic.
"You know, no one ever suggested that Kerry would have been America's second Catholic president. I wonder why..."
Maybe because most of the people who voted for him considered that a minus.
One thing that struck me: prior to and after *both* Clintstone elections I read columns asserting that "the Republic can survive" four years of Clinton, or four more years of Clinton. Bill Buckly published a column with that theme.
Now, I read a lot, but this election I didn't read a single statement that "the Republic can survive" four years of the Kerriban. I wonder why that is.
Perhaps no one who would be concerned about that was confident that the Republic *could* survive four years of Enswine Band-Aid.
But, this is important to know?
Was there a Catholic running for president this year?
Yes, sKerry is a cino (Catholic in name only.)
Also, Catholics are 27% of the entire electorate and they have traditionally voted for democrats because of Unions etc.
The democrats have gone so far overboard on issues such as partial birth abortion that they have become ghouls. The radical feminists have devastated the democrat party.
I believe the Republican Party can now move in a make even more gains with Catholics.
Catholic vote ping.
You can thank the spineless USCCB for that.
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