[CTrent1564]

maryz:

You are quite correct on this. People forget that Ronald Reagan became pro-life later in life, and in particular after the attempt on his life. However, he signed the most liberal abortion law when he was governor of California back in 1966 or 1967. The Northeast Republicans, i.e the Cabot-Lodge and Rockefeller type Republicans were all Pro-Choice and as maryz noted, many ethnic Catholics rememembered the anti-Catholic sentiment expressed by the Republican party in the early part of the 20th century.

I think Catholics now being a swing vote is a remarkable transition when you realize that in 1960, JFK got 80% of the Catholic vote and 44 years later in 2004, John Kerry got only 47%. Of course this go around, it was McCain who would get 47% and Obama, unfortunately, got 53% of Catholic voters.

Please note that the “Catholic Vote” is not monolithic as you are lumping orthodox Catholics [i.e the Catholics who regularly attend Sunday Liturgy] on one extreme, these tend to vote more Conservative, and the cultural Catholics on the other extreme, who tend to vote more Liberal.

Regards

[maryz]

I think you have to be aware too that AFAIK Obama did not run as the "pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage" candidate, not in his ads for a general audience, whatever he may have said addressings a NARAL meeting or a GLBT (did I get that right?) group. And McCain -- again AFAIK -- never mentioned abortion in the campaign; it certainly wasn't a theme. I think it more than likely that the casual observer (those who half watch a morning news show, see some of the ads and maybe catch the evening news) actually knows Obama's record on abortion (or anything else, come to think of it!).

It would undoubtedly be a better world if all voters consulted FR daily, read TAS, NR, the Limbaugh Letter, etc. -- but, alas, they don't.

One more thing: I've never seen any figures on religious affiliation of that nearly 50% of eligible citizens who simply don't vote. I know (rather casually) a couple of people who never vote, one a devout Catholic, one less so (I think). They just think all politicians are worthless and out for themselves and -- like the little old lady in the old joke -- feel that "voting only encourages them!"