The canon law of the Catholic Church sets the following requirements: 1) Baptism 3) Total acceptance to the revelation of Jesus Christ as interpreted by the Church. 2) Adult Confirmation of Batismal vows (see 3) 3) Acceptance of and adherence to all other Church laws (ex: the sanctity of life) 4) Confession of sins through the sacrament of reconciliation periodically and as necessary 5) Attendence at Mass weekly and on Holy Days (1-4 are repeated during Mass) There are celebrites and political figures who call themselves Catholic, but fail to meet these requirements. When Church spokesmen are asked why someone like Ted Kennedy has not been excommunicated, the answer is frequently that no man can see into the heart of another man, but that he may have excommunicated himself. The media may accept the idea that anyone calling himself a Catholic is one. This is not the case, because religious affiliation is not the same thing as ethnicity. I don't know (and I REALLY don't care) what the rules are for evangelical Christians. The Catholic Church's rules are quite clear, and they have been in place for centuries. If you're not following them, you're not a Catholic. Period.
I’m interested in politics right now not religion so you are wasting your time giving me the long religious point of view about voting numbers.
Even you must agree that breaking the Catholic vote down to being ‘a white Catholic and attending church at least once a week’ is close enough to your definition of “Catholic”, that group was the most conservative of the Catholics, voting 62% republican in 2008, not the 88% that you thought.