I grew up with an ornery old Italian Catholic grandfather. Trust me, old Italian Catholic guys (and gals) won’t be voting for Barack Obama. Neither will old Irish guys or other old ethnic guys. And states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania are where these guys live.
The Democrats are basically giving us huge chunks of the northeast if they nominate Obama. I don’t think they can make up for those losses elsewhere.
No one wants to talk about this because it gets too close to the race issue. It will be an issue, however. The dems may be slitting their throats by nominating Obama. A lot of those old folks simply won't vote for a black man. Right or wrong, them's the facts. I was even a little sceptical about their voting for Hillary. That looks like a moot point now (although I won't count her out until Obama gives his acceptance speech in Denver--I don't care what the delegate count is!)
The old "Reagan Democrats" were always largely Catholic ethnics. They are almost always the so-called "swing vote."
BTW, have you seen this thread? It discusses this video about Obama. It has to be seen to be believed. It should leave anyone who sees it disquieted. How did we come to this where such a character as Obama could receive such mob adoration? Can you imagine your retired Catholic ethic voting for Obama after watching it?