Bush, Kerry court Catholic vote in tight election

Yahoo News ^ | October 7, 2004

[NYer]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and Democratic rival John Kerry (news - web sites) are battling for support among Roman Catholics voters, an electorate divided between a Bible-reading Protestant president and a Catholic senator who supports abortion rights.

Bush, a born-again Methodist who signs off his speeches by saying "May God bless America," has never hidden his devotion to his faith, while Kerry has been more discreet about his religious beliefs.

But in an election that many predict will come down to the wire, both candidates are seeking to court as many voting blocs as possible. One-quarter of the US population, or 65 million people, is Catholic.

Bush in August made a speech before the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic charitable organization that claims 1.6 million members in the United States and Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

And in June he met with Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II at the Vatican (news - web sites).

Bush opposes abortion and backs a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, two key issues of concern among conservative Catholics.

In 2001, Bush banned the use of public funds for stem-cell research using human embryos, excepting those previously cultivated. The ban did not apply to private sector research.

Although Kerry does not usually talk publicly about his faith, he stole a Bush line last week when he concluded his televised debate with the Republican president by saying, "God Bless America."

The Massachusetts senator is often spotted in Church on Sundays receiving communion, but his position on abortion puts him in a difficult position with the US Catholic hierarchy, which has authorized its priests to refuse giving communion to politicians who support abortion.

Kerry has said that although he supports a woman's legal right to have an abortion, he personally opposes the procedure.

Although Kerry has voiced opposition to gay marriage, he opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex weddings.

Neither candidate has clearly won the Catholic vote, however.

A Pew institute poll released in mid-September showed 49 percent of Catholics favored Bush over Kerry, who garnered 42 percent of support.

In the 2000 election, a majority of Catholics voted for Bush. In the last 20 years, Bill Clinton (news - web sites) is the only Democrat to have won the Catholic vote, in his 1996 re-election campaign.

While Bush and Kerry seek out Catholic support, one political analyst says religion may not be a factor in the November 2 election.

"People don't vote based on their religious affiliation," said John White, a political science professor at Catholic University in Washington. "Being Catholic does not really matter to Americans when they go and vote anymore."

Although late president John Kennedy's Catholicism was an issue in the 1960 campaign, Kerry's faith has not been a concern in this mostly Protestant nation.

"Forty years ago, Catholics still felt the sting of discrimination, they still had yet (to get) into the White House," White said. "There was a strong sense of Catholic identity, nurtured by decades of job discrimination, ethnic discrimination. That has really come to an end."

[Aristotle721]

Do the priests were those cone-shaped bras?

Maybe they're miter-shaped.