Posted on 02/08/2008 7:52:52 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Washington DC, Feb 7, 2008 / 06:02 pm (CNA).- Catholic voters backed Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in many Super Tuesday presidential primaries and caucuses for their respective parties, according to news reports.
Deal W. Hudson of InsideCatholic.com reported that exit polling on the Catholic vote was done in 10 of the 22 GOP primary states. Of those states, Sen. McCain won over Catholics in eight while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who left the presidential race on Thursday, attracted the Catholic vote only in Georgia and his home state, Massachusetts. Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee, an outspoken Evangelical Protestant, attracted little Catholic support.
In the key state of Missouri, Hudson reports, Sen. McCain won the Catholic vote by 25 points—46 % to Romney’s 21 %. Fifty four percent of religiously active Catholics in Missouri went for McCain, compared to 24 % who voted for Huckabee and 20 % who voted for Romney.
The Catholic vote also went to McCain in the critical California race, where he attracted 41 % of Catholic Republican voters.
Other states McCain won include Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and his home state Arizona.
Deal Hudson reports that one McCain advisor said the campaign was pleased with McCain’s showing in states that have experienced illegal immigrants firsthand. “McCain's compassionate stance on immigration may turn out to be a plus for McCain, after all,” the advisor said.
Some political observers believe that attracting the predominantly Catholic Hispanic vote could be a deciding factor in the national elections this November.
Hudson noted that McCain had strong support among pro-choice Republicans. In Missouri those favoring completely legalized abortion voted 48 % for McCain. In California, McCain received 49 % of the vote from those who want abortion to be “mostly legal.”
“This indicates that some voters have the perception that McCain is not pro-life, which is strange given his zero percent pro-abortion rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America,” Hudson said. He speculated that the senator’s support from these voters could fade as his record becomes better known. On the other hand, McCain’s perceived pro-choice sympathies could erode his support among pro-lifers.
McCain’s pro-life record is not totally consistent, as he has favored federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
In the Democrat Party’s California vote, the Associated Press reports, Catholic voters favored Sen. Hillary Clinton over Illinois Senator Barack Obama by a 2-1 margin. In Florida, according to Fox News, 63 % of Catholics voted for Hillary over Obama, who received 22 % of Catholic Democrats’ votes.
That makes perfect sense...Hillary pro abortionist and McCain pro embryonic stem cell research.
But of course, Kerry and Teddy are Catholics...and big time pro abortionists.
Not to defend Catholics (they do a fine job themselves) but Kerry and Teddy seem to be as much Catholic as Billy and Jimmy are Baptists ... just CINOs and BINOs (i.e., Liberal Twits) ... IMHO
Is McCain pro-embryonic stem cell? I’d appreciate a link to his voting record on this.
He sent a letter to be read at the March for Life and has a fairly strong Pro-Life voting record....mind you Romney’s is far from 100% with his ironclad links to Planned Parenthood neither would be perfect on this very important issue.
Sad that the Catholic vote went for a fellow authoritarian and a lesbian gym teacher.
The Catholics on this site must be a rare breed.
Unfortunately....you are more right than you know.
There are a lot of good, pro-life, conservative Catholics. What we would call "Reagan democrats." But, back historically, the Republican party used to be horribly anti-Catholic (its roots contain the "know nothings." Look it up if you're not familiar with the term). Until the abortion issue came out, the Catholic voting bloc was 99% Dem. Since Roe v Wade, church-goers have abandoned Democratic candidates, due to the pro-abortion issue; however, if the Dems would get smart and nominate a pro-life Candidate (and hell freezes over), I would wager that such a candidate would get 75% of the Catholic vote, at least.
Bottom line, you will see the majority of even good, church-going Catholics voting largely center to center-right. You will see cultural Catholics (those who aren't that adherent to the Faith) voting center to center-left. Not too much on the extremes, either way.
Frankly, I'm surprised there were as many who voted for Huckleberry as did.
It’s no secret there many CINO’s out there. Disappointing yes, surprising no. If there were such a thing as a Calvinist exit poll would the storyline read , “Calvinist support Huckabee and none of them voted Democrat?”
I've never met a Calvinist who was a democrat. They may be out there, but every one I've ever read or known has been a conservative.
Even Ronald Reagan's kitchen cabinet in great part was funded by Calvinists.
Inherent within Calvinism is the acknowledgment of the God-given superiority of capitalism; a representative government overseen by a system of checks and balances; a free market economic structure; and the Biblical admonitions against such sins as abortion and homosexuality.
Calvinists believes that God created families for a reason -- because the family was His chosen method of identifying members of His own family. Thus, anything that weakens the family is seen as error, such as divorce and unwed mothers and abortion and homosexuality and fatherless households.
We can all agree this Republican race for President affords some pretty slim pickens. At this point I tend to favor the only candidate who publicly spoke the name of Jesus Christ at Christmas.
I don’t support any of the candidates.
A congress that works against a liberal President is preferable to a congress that works with a liberal President.
IF you were Catholic before you voted for Clinton, you weren’t afterwards.
I will support liberal McCain or liberal Huckabee if they give us a very conservative, viable, relatively young, true conservative VP candidate.
Without that, I will vote my conscience.
Sad that the Catholic vote went for a fellow authoritarian and a lesbian gym teacher.
Lesbian gym teacher?
P. J. O'Rourke says of her (here), that "she's the particular woman who taught the 4th grade class that every man in America wished he were dead in. Hillary Clinton is Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. Hillary Clinton is 'America's ex-wife.'"
Go PJ!
Some groups strongly conflate religious with ethnic identity. Jews are famous for this: you can be atheist, pantheist or even a socialist starbucks sabbatarian, and still identify yourself as "Jewish" when the pollster asks.
Immigrant heritage influences this. I grew up in an industrial snowbelt/rustbelt town which was about 60% immigrants from 2 -4 generations ago --- Poles, Italians, Irish, Baltics, Slavs ---- and they all would have identified themselves as Catholics whether they went to church or not. ("'Course I'm Catholic! I'm a Lagomarsino!") Meaning, they were culturally not WASPs. So there, too, you had religion as a stand-in for ethnic identity.
The New York Times polling organization always asked people "What religion were you raised?" -- so if you were raised a Catholic but were now agnostic, they'd tabulate you as a Catholic; if you were raised Jewish but converted to Catholic, you were still in the 'Jewish' column.
It would be intresting to tabulate the results, not by loose ethno-religious markers, but by some measure of religious intensity --- people classified by church attendance n times a month, by reception of the sacraments (e.g. "Were you confirmed? Married in the Church?" etc.), by credal adherance (like, duh, "Do you believe in God? And that he has laws? And that it is your duty to obey them even when they do not coincide 100% with your spontaneous preferences?")
My impression is that in ALL denominations, intensity of belief/involvement correlates with social, moral, even political conservatism.
If you say so.
They may be out there,
Ya think?
Inherent within Calvinism is the acknowledgment of the God-given superiority of capitalism;
I don’t think so.
We can all agree this Republican race for President affords some pretty slim pickens.
Yes, it’s the worst group of candidates from either party I’ve ever seen.
I’ve seen tend to favor the only candidate who publicly spoke the name of Jesus Christ at Christmas.
OK.
Interesting thought.
At this point I tend to favor the only candidate who publicly spoke the name of Jesus Christ at Christmas.
Amen. He may not be perfect, but I believe he is mentally stable and wants the best for everyone.
Great bumper sticker:
SHRILLERY: USA’s EX
or
SHRILLERY:
USA’s EX-WIFE
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