Catholic voters heavily favored Obama, analysis shows

Washington Times ^ | November 7, 2008 | Julia Duin

[Alex Murphy]

Large numbers of Catholics and religiously unaffiliated voters heavily contributed to President-elect Barack Obama's huge margin of victory over Republican Sen. John McCain, according to an analysis of exit poll surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

"Obama had a greater appeal for religious people," said John Green, a senior fellow at Pew. "I don't think we would have seen that support had Hillary [Rodham Clinton] been nominated."

Catholics voted for Mr. Obama over Mr. McCain by a nine-point margin (54 percent versus 45 percent), a turnaround from 2004 when Catholics supported President Bush over Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, by a five-point margin (52 percent to 47 percent).

Their votes came despite the warnings from 89 bishops who issued a blizzard of statements in the closing weeks of the election, warning against voting for a pro-choice candidate.

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who last month termed Mr. Obama "the most committed 'abortion-rights' presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973," led the effort.

His - and other voices from church leaders - went unheeded.

"Six months ago the pundits were predicting that President-elect Obama would not do well with Catholic voters," said Steve Krueger, national director of the Boston-based group Catholic Democrats. "The fact that Senators Obama and [Joseph R.] Biden reversed a trend, since 1996, of white ethnic Catholics defecting to the Republican Party in presidential elections is of historic significance."

Mr. Obama did especially well among Hispanics, who are overwhelmingly Catholic. Two-thirds of them voted for him compared with white Catholics, who voted for Mr. McCain 52 to 47 percent over Mr. Obama.

"Latino Catholics appear to have been decisive in flipping three states from red to blue: New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada," wrote Michael Sean Winters

[informavoracious]

I'm a Catholic. I don't hate Evies. Nor do any of the many and diverse Catholics I know. And, we DON'T think about you, except as pro-life, pro-family allies.

I agree the commie an is to replace religion with the state, but I don't believe they are pushing a "Catholics a smarter" wedge at all. Dunno what you're talking about there.,

[Earthdweller]

Or are you trying to tell me that there are no Catholics that hate Evangelicals and they all think like you? Come on...I know it's not discussed openly much except in the media but it's there. You are talking to a heretic...my mother's Catholic ancestors threw my father's Protestant ancestors out of bell towers. LOL.

[informavoracious]

Not all Catholics share your apparent English/Irish heritage, you know. And no, I do not know a single Catholic who thinks as you suggest — and I travel extensively.

[Earthdweller]

I travel extensively as well and not a single Irishman with a brain would tell a soul if he had any animosity toward the Protestant majority, he just uses his vote to speak louder than words.

As my Irish grandfather used to say about Irish diplomacy, if you are good at it, you can tell a man to visit the lake of fire and make him think he will enjoy the trip.
This election, half the Catholics told McCain/Palin to put some ice on it. :)~

[informavoracious]

Some people who called themselves Catholics voted for O. I did not. All I can say is God is watching.

[LoneApple]

The mistake here is to take one aspect of Catholic thought and turn it into the main focus of the Catholic layperson. Yes, abortion is AN issue but it is not the be-all and end-all issue it is for certain other Christian sects. I am not going to argue religion here, but suffice it to say that being a Christian means more than going to a church and acting like some modern day Crusader. It means living a life based on a the teachings of Jesus Christ and understanding what those teachings are and what they mean. Picking and choosing from New and Old Testament and creating a mish-mosh of both is not Christianity the way I learned it.

I’m sorry if my remarks were insulting but I will accept the charge because I truly believe with all my heart that the alliance fostered by Mr. Rove has been a disaster for the Republican Party because eventually the person you’re asking for help from will ask you to pay the check.

[jo kus]

These Catholics are most definitely not listening to their shepherds, the Bishops

Two comments.

First, the bishops, for the most part, have not done their job. With a few exceptions, how many Catholic politians have we seen even given the THREAT of excommunication for their public scandal? Catholics see many of their leaders are not serious about the teachings of Christ, so neither are they.

Second, neither do Protestants...

xx% McCain, 45% Obama- Protestants

45% McCain, 54% Obama - Catholics

Poor Alex should look to the beam in his own congregation's eyes first.

Regards

[Alex Murphy]

Poor Alex should look to the beam in his own congregation's eyes first.

Ping me the next time you talk about me, please. Here are the final results - now footnoted and annotated - the "by the numbers" breakdown of the religious voter for the 2008 Presidential election:

75% McCain, 25% Obama - [White⁷ Born Again⁵] Evangelicals^1,8
65% McCain, xx% Obama - Weekly church-attending Protestants⁷
65% McCain, 34% Obama - White Protestants^7,8
62% McCain, 35% Obama - State of Utah³
55% McCain, 43% Obama - Weekly mass-attending Catholics ^6,9
54% McCain, 44% Obama - Weekly church-goers^1,4,7
54% McCain, 45% Obama - Protestants^6,8
51% McCain, 49% Obama - White Catholics^1,7
xx% McCain, 53% Obama - Monthly church-goers⁴**
45% McCain, 54% Obama - Catholics^1,4,6,8,9
xx% McCain, 59% Obama - Semi-annual church-goers⁴**
38% McCain, 61% Obama - Occasional churchgoers¹
37% McCain, 61% Obama - Non-weekly-mass-attending Catholics⁶
xx% McCain, 67% Obama - Hispanic Catholics⁸**
xx% McCain, 68% Obama - Don't attend church⁴ **
21% McCain, 78% Obama - American Jews^2,8

** No source provided voting percentages for the other party.

Citations:
¹ The Awesome Blue God -- How Obama Forged A New Faith Coalition
² Exit polls: 78% of Jews voted for Obama
³ Utah's red loses some of its luster
⁴ Obama's Religious Appeal: Still Missing Evangelicals - which TIME renamed as Obama: Bringing (Some) Evangelicals In
⁵ The Evangelical Electoral Map
⁶ What's wrong with Catholic voters? What's wrong with Catholics?
⁷ Evangelical Voters Favor McCain by Wide Margins
⁸ Catholic voters heavily favored Obama, analysis shows
⁹ What Happened to the Catholic Vote?

All numbers cited are the first ones reported in the press. In cases of multiple reports, some percentages cited were not exact. However, the number was within 2% of all the other sources, lending credence to the general number & placement overall.

Other resources:
With the Help of Catholics…Obama’s Victory
Results! Evangelicals

[trisham]

Amen, FRiend.

[Religion Moderator]

Do not make this thread "about" another Freeper. That is a form of "making it personal."

Most every social conservative is upset this week. The wounds are fresh. People are pointing fingers - whether at McCain or Palin or Bush or people of their own confession or other confessions.

For those of us on the Religion Forum, the exit polls only show we have work to do - prayers for other believers and our country and hard work to help voters get their priorities in order.

Alex, there are enough threads up to show where the problems are. Let's stop picking at the scab and get to work.

[notaliberal]

You know, this is the whole problem in a nutshell. You've run around for days telling everyone how the Catholics voted, ignoring the fact that MILLIONS OF EVANGELICALS ALSO VOTED FOR OBAMA.

Why is it that I was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with all denominations of Christians in support of traditional marriage in California, fighting a common enemy; but I come to FR and find that your main energies in the last few days have been telling the Catholics of this forum, OF WHOM MOST HONEST PROTS HERE KNOW WOULD WOULD NEVER VOTE FOR OBAMA, AND KICK THEM WHEN THEY'RE DOWN?

Disgusting.

You go girl!

[God luvs America]

or an even sadder state for Latino’s...

this Catholic did not vote for hussien and asked others who were considering it how they felt about their tax $$$ going to pay for abortions here and abroad- never mind the approval of live birth abortion....

[Mr. Jeeves]

I’d just as soon jettison the fundies...

Utimately, the party that will successfully challenge the Democrat/Socialist/Communist alliance will jettison everybody who doesn't put limited government and the preservation of Constitutional rights at the very top of the priority list.

- The fundies don't.
- The Neocons don't.
- The RINOs don't.
- The defense hawks don't.
- The "New Catholics" don't.
- The Wall Street puppetmasters certainly don't.

This party's motto should be found in the words of Thomas Jefferson: "A government strong enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have." It's a simple, clear message that will resonate with the right people and motivate them to actually go to the polls, which "conservatives" didn't seem to bother with this time.

And it doesn't look like that party will be today's Republicans, who seem determined to go down with the sinking ship of a dwindling social/religious demographic.

[patriotspride]

” I knew a daily communicant in Massachusetts who sadly fits that description. He actually did not regard Ted Kennedy as pro-abortion and was ga-ga over Obama. Its hard to understand that level of delusion “

Many of the oldest among us still vote party over religion.

I know several devote catholics who do exactly that. They seem to lose their focus on what they firmly believe in their religion compared to their politics.

[EyeGuy]

“...the bishops, for the most part, have not done their job. With a few exceptions, how many Catholic politians have we seen even given the THREAT of excommunication for their public scandal? Catholics see many of their leaders are not serious about the teachings of Christ, so neither are they.”

######

While they are definitely moving in the right direction under Benedict, you are correct, it needs to be MUCH more serious, well-defined and with the punishment of excommunication attached.

The Church’s beliefs are what they are. What are they waiting for?

[giotto]

I attend TV Mass.

What? Does that count?

[LoneApple]

Agreed. There is a deep sense of denial floating around certain segments of Republican Party which remind me of the stories of Japanese soldiers living on remote islands after WW2: They don’t know the war is over. There has to be an understanding that most Americans (and I mean MOST) don’t want the government NOR the religious Bible thumpers intruding into what they consider their private lives. It is an absolute misreading of the population of the United States to think the social issues near and dear to the Religious Right are anywhere near as important with the general public. Americans have a long history of libertarian ideals of personal freedom and prefer not to have anyone tell them what they can or can’t do.

The GOP is at a perilous juncture. Either we take off the blinders, see the world for what it is and formulate a winning strategy or we perish. Start with figuring out what people want and go from there.

[jo kus]

Ping me the next time you talk about me, please. Here are the final results - now footnoted and annotated - the "by the numbers" breakdown of the religious voter for the 2008 Presidential election:

You missed the whole point. Protestants voted for Obama, as well, and only by a slightly lesser margin... How sad.

Regards