Why does that only apply to Catholics, and not Protestants? Protestants have only voted Democrat for President 3 times, 1932, 1936, and 1964, I don't think it is because Protestants are all devout church going saints.
It does apply to Protestants, silly! What do you think the breakdown between Evangelical Protestants (who take their religion seriously and are conservatives for the most part) and mainline Protestants, who are flaming liberals, represents?
No one talks of “The Protestant Vote” because the fissure between liberal Mainline and conservative Evangelicals is so obvious.
Well, the fissure between churchgoing, faithful-to-the-bishops, church-teaching accepting conservative Catholics and liberal surburban CINOs is just as great and just as clear—dozens of sociologists have pointed it out.
But do the pundits and journalists do their analysis taking account of that fissure? No, they speak of “The Catholic Vote” as a monolith
when
it
suits
them.
And now some FReeper, in order to bash Santorum, has copied this neat little dishonest trick.
So, if you insist on referring to a monolithic Catholic vote (which does not exist), then don’t ever use the term “Evangelical Protestant vote” again—you have to lump ALL PROTESTANTS into the same bucket.
It’s an exact parallel to “The Catholic Vote”