Post-Election Poll: Abortion Helped Bush With Hispanics, Catholics (pro-life politics wins again)

LIFE NEWS ^ | February 3, 2005 | Steven Ertelt

[Liz]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll conducted by researchers at the University of Akron shows that the abortion issue helped President Bush make considerable gains in the 2004 elections among Catholics and Hispanics.

The poll also finds Bush improving with most religious groups while those who attend church infrequently backed John Kerry.

According to the survey, some 63 percent of Hispanic Protestants supported Bush in 2004 compared with just 32 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, Catholics gave Bush a 53 to 47 percent advantage over the Massachusetts senator, also an increase over Bush's 2000 numbers.

Longtime Democrat voting blocs, both groups voted for the president in part because of social issues like abortion, the poll showed.

"[S]ocial issue priorities were most important to Bush's religious constituencies," the researchers wrote. "A majority of the top four Bush constituencies regarded social issues as very important to their vote."

Raimundo Rojas, the Hispanic outreach coordinator for the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com that the poll's findings confirm Bush's gains among Hispanic voters were due to his pro-life views.

"President Bush made big gains among Latino voters, specially in the key states of New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, and assured his victory in those states," Rojas said.

Rojas said Bush made better inroads with Latino voters because "Hispanics weren't listening to the propaganda or believing the pro-abortion spin."

"Post-election Democratic squabbling over the specific percentage of the Hispanic vote that went for Bush seems to be more important to them than analyzing why so many Hispanics voted for President Bush," Rojas explained.

"You will never win Latinos over on the issue of abortion. It goes against our nature our culture and our national mores," Rojas told LifeNews.com.

The poll also shows the religious split in the United States with 69 percent of liberal or mainline Christians backing Kerry and 72 percent of evangelical or traditionalist Christians supporting Bush.

The University of Akron conducted the phone survey of 2,730, which was sponsored in part by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Related web sites: See the poll results at

http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/research.php

[Coleus]

When immigrants come into the USA they are met with liberals from social service agencies (including Catholic Charities) who point them in the direction of where the social programs are.

After they are working, paying taxes and become more westernized, especially those who own businesses, they "generally" start to switch over to the Republican party, it takes years.

The Catholics are too touchy feely, many priests are liberal democrats where the Pentecostals who tend to be more republican are more in your face on issues of abortion and homosexual marriage, etc. I see it as a weakness in the RCC. The institution is great on paper however not too great at the pulpit. That's another thing, in the RCC a sermon is about 10 min. while in the fundamentalist church the minister has them most of the day to get the issues and message across.

[Soul Seeker]

Confirms what I know.

Hispanics I know voted for Bush because of

WOT/Treatment of our Soldiers
Faith/Family/abortion/Homosexuality
They are Republicans economically, in foreign policy, and some socially.

Same reason any of the rest of us vote GOP.

The Hispanic population is NOT uniformly in step with Democrats. The Republicans would be advised to note even on imigration there is a split in the community.

[Coleus]

Since you're from a Catholic immigrant background >>>

From what background are you? I see nothing on your home page describing anything about you. Not even a state flag.

[Mark in the Old South]

I'm not Hispanic but I am Catholic. I think one of the reasons you see a tendency toward one party among Catholics (I think this may explain the Jewish vote as well) is a very strong tendency toward family tradition. Sometimes tradition is a bit like inertia, "we've always voted that way", over any logic or reason. I have Catholic friends who are very hostile to legal abortion but still vote Demoncrat. It is as hard to explain as Jews voting for Pols who you know are antisemites and Blacks who vote for the likes of KKK Byrd but bristle at the idea of voting for Reagan.

[Mark in the Old South]

I just knew you were gonna bring Pio in to this again! This fight ain't over. :-D

[Pio]

Some of us are preparing for the Catholic reconquista of California. Dear, sweet Pio understands this pressing matter

Private Pio reporting for duty , snowblower at the ready. One bag of marbles and it all over.

Keep the Mexicans, Central Americans, South Americans and Filipinos coming..they may be flirting with the Protties but all we need do is get a good Pope in here for a visit to rile things up.

When the Catholics awaken they will be the ENTs in the Tolkein novel...right now they are debating...stirring to life..slowly, methodically...then we'll get Jeb Bush in '08 or I'll settle for '12..... he's Catholic, a Bush with Pro-life street-cred, Hispanic kids and wifey...besides he's the SMART one.

And there will be plenty of rice, beans and beer to go around.

[Mark in the Old South]

I repeat the Catholic vote in Virginia went 70% for Bush compared 55% nationally. I just bet it wasn't even that high in CA. If you are looking for Christendom Redux here in North Amercia you better be looking to the Old Dominion.