Catholic shift gives Democrats big boost

[meno]

This is the first article I’ve spotted – in mainstream press or otherwise – that reports on the Catholic vote in the midterm elections. If anybody sees anything else, I would appreciate a link.

Catholics, who compose a massive 67-million-person slice of the electorate, favored Democrats in Tuesday’s election by a 55 percent to 45 percent margin, according to National Election Pool exit polls.

That’s a marked difference from 2004, when President Bush, a Republican, won 52 percent of the Catholic vote and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) received 47 percent.

Link to article

 

[Riley259]

Just think what a different society we would have if all Catholics voted in accordance with Church teachings. The Democratic party might be on life support and be forced to change their pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell, and gay marriage platforms. When I hear that the majority of Catholics voted for Democrats (who are overwhelmingly pro-choice), it makes me both sad and frustrated. I guess we need to keep praying!

 

[Richardols]

Just think what a different society we would have if all Catholics voted in accordance with Church teachings.

If that were to happen, neither the Dems nor the GOP would have received many votes from Catholics this time.

 

[DWPC]

Just think what a different society we would have if all Catholics voted in accordance with Church teachings. The Democratic party might be on life support and be forced to change their pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell, and gay marriage platforms. When I hear that the majority of Catholics voted for Democrats (who are overwhelmingly pro-choice), it makes me both sad and frustrated. I guess we need to keep praying!

Which Church teachings would those be? Both parties support laws and policies that are fundamentally at odds with Christian teachings, and both use moral issues to manipulate voters. Its always a choice of the lesser of evils.

 

[Riley259]

Which Church teachings would those be? Both parties support laws and policies that are fundamentally at odds with Christian teachings, and both use moral issues to manipulate voters. Its always a choice of the lesser of evils.

I’m referring to the reality of the political climate. Unfortunately, very few candidates support everything that the Church teaches but if Catholics would follow Catholic voting guidelines regarding nonnegotiables (including the lesser of evils if necessary) then I still believe that the Democrats would be the big losers.

 

[CathCentrist]

Just think what a different society we would have if all Catholics voted in accordance with Church teachings. The Democratic party might be on life support and be forced to change their pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell, and gay marriage platforms. When I hear that the majority of Catholics voted for Democrats (who are overwhelmingly pro-choice), it makes me both sad and frustrated. I guess we need to keep praying!

Just think how better off society would be if the GOP had lived up to all their promises. Then maybe the Catholics and evangelicals wouldnt have had to send a message.

 

[chicago]

It’s oversimplfying to say that “Catholics” voted this way or that. You have to look at more detailed questions like what areas the votes came from (and their inate political makeup), how turnout was, what election issues were at play, even what kind of Catholics we are talking about. Only then can you get a better understanding on what a “Catholic” vote indicated.

 

[aimee]

I think many stayed home to send a message to both Democrats and Republicans.

 

[WenckebachCath]

There was an old humorous piece that made fun of statistics. It linked bread eating with murder, since 100% of murderers statistically also eat bread, therefore the obvious conclusion is that eating bread predisposes people to become murderers.

I’d say that Americans across the board are fed up with the Republican party, in general, at this time in history. In particular, George Bush has been a poor leader, and some of his prominant supporters on the family values issues that are si dear to us, have proven to be absolute hypocrites.

The war in Iraq is an absolute fiasco. It has turned into another Vietnam. Anyone who wants to claim that Vietnam was a noble mission of liberation, is fooling themselves. It was a destroyer of lives and health. We blanket bombed Hanoi and killed thousands of innocent civilians. 50,000 young Americans were killed, and quite a few more were maimed and injured, both mentally and physically. It also fueled the social revolution and disrespect for authority at home that helped lead to Roe vs Wade and the destruction of family values.

The Republicans and George Bush need to bear the responsiblity for their poor decisions. The American people have spoken.

 

[Dale_M]

If anybody sees anything else, I would appreciate a link.

This is an editorial, rather than a news article, but it makes an interesting statement.

What would happen if political leaders made a concerted effort to appeal to the Catholic vote-- precisely along the lines of those “non-negotiable” issues? We don’t really know. But this year there were a couple of “swing states” with a large Catholic population, where pro-life, pro-family alliances worked hard to get out the vote-- in Missouri, for a referendum on stem-cell research, and in Virginia, for a ballot measure on marriage. And guess what? Missouri and Virginia were the only swing states in which a (pro-life) Republican Senate candidates won more Catholic votes than their (pro-abortion) Democratic rivals. Coincidence?

link

This article is about the religious vote, rather than the Catholic vote, but it does give impressive numbers about Ohio.

So it wasn’t a surprise when Ted Strickland captured the governorship for Democrats last night and his colleague, Sherrod Brown, won the Senate seat. What was remarkable is that they did so largely with the help of Catholic and evangelical voters. Both Democrats are pro-choice, but they managed commanding leads among Catholic voters: Strickland had a 20-point advantage, and Brown’s 54-46 margin represented an astounding 47-point swing in the Catholic vote since his opponent Mike DeWine’s last Senate run in 2000.

link

In a similar article, the New York Times mentions Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The shifts in the Catholic vote were the most noteworthy. In Ohio, according to exit polls, Democrats picked up 20 percent more of that constituency than they had in 2000; in Pennsylvania, they picked up 11 percent more. The comparison is not exact, however, because 2000 involved a presidential election, not a midterm election. Data for the 2002 midterm election in those states are not available.

link

 

[CathCentrist]

There was an old humorous piece that made fun of statistics. It linked bread eating with murder, since 100% of murderers statistically also eat bread, therefore the obvious conclusion is that eating bread predisposes people to become murderers.

I’d say that Americans across the board are fed up with the Republican party, in general, at this time in history. In particular, George Bush has been a poor leader, and some of his prominant supporters on the family values issues that are si dear to us, have proven to be absolute hypocrites.

The war in Iraq is an absolute fiasco. It has turned into another Vietnam. Anyone who wants to claim that Vietnam was a noble mission of liberation, is fooling themselves. It was a destroyer of lives and health. We blanket bombed Hanoi and killed thousands of innocent civilians. 50,000 young Americans were killed, and quite a few more were maimed and injured, both mentally and physically. It also fueled the social revolution and disrespect for authority at home that helped lead to Roe vs Wade and the destruction of family values.

The Republicans and George Bush need to bear the responsiblity for their poor decisions. The American people have spoken.

Glad to see more people coming on board with this outlook!

 

[mary_bobo]

Just think how better off society would be if the GOP had lived up to all their promises. Then maybe the Catholics and evangelicals wouldnt have had to send a message.

I understand how you feel. But the Republicans did do a lot of what they said they would do. They did not have a big majority in the House and the Senate frequently did not agree with the House and the Pres does not have a supermajority in his party to get many things thru. Also, you know that many Republicans are not conservatives and that is where the pro-life vote would come from.

 

[Dr.Bombay]

The whole idea of letting people “choose” their own leaders by vote is ridiculous and doomed to failure, ultimately.

Democrats are evil. Republicans are stupid. Not much of a choice in my book.

 

[rien]

The priests in my diocese were all but saying vote Democrat - because of the war, the treatment of middle and lower middle class Americans by the GOP, the scandals.

Here both the Dem and GOP candidatess were pro-choice so it was the secondary factors - how you treat your brothers/sister - that go me and many/most Catholics here to vote Dem.

 

[OriginalJS]

The whole idea of letting people “choose” their own leaders by vote is ridiculous and doomed to failure, ultimately.

Democrats are evil. Republicans are stupid. Not much of a choice in my book.

What do you think would be better and why?

This reminds me of Winston Churchill’s observation that democracy is like a raft - you are always afloat but your feet are wet all the time.

 

[Grolsch]

I don’t know why any Catholic would feel upset about the GOP losing the house. I used to be all for Bush because at least he pretended to listen to Christians. But as the years flew past it became obvious that the GOP were only paying lip service and had no real intention of implementing any of the demands their Christian supporters were making. Some insiders have even reported that secretly the GOP mocked their evangelical supporters as stupid and/or crazy.

At any rate, the GOP deserved to be smacked hard up side the head.

 

[David_Paul]

George Soros, David Geffen, Herb Sandler and others have been pouring milions into “Catholics for a Free Choice” and other fronts. How many they convinced no one knows. Catholics are the swing vote in American politics. Doesn’t take many to turn an election.

 

[David_Paul]

At any rate, the GOP deserved to be smacked hard up side the head.

What does the GOP have to do with anything? The question is life. So what if liberals “smacked hard side up” the GOP? That doesn’t help the baby today who will not be able to see God’s creation or the elderly person who, sick and depressed, might want to end it all.

 

[mary_bobo]

I don’t know why any Catholic would feel upset about the GOP losing the house. I used to be all for Bush because at least he pretended to listen to Christians. But as the years flew past it became obvious that the GOP were only paying lip service and had no real intention of implementing any of the demands their Christian supporters were making. Some insiders have even reported that secretly the GOP mocked their evangelical supporters as stupid and/or crazy.

At any rate, the GOP deserved to be smacked hard up side the head.

The GOP deserved losing the election, but their stanch on pro-life was not the reason. The things they have been able to accomplish in that regard have been posted over and over on this forum. You can’t get everything you want unless you have a fillibuster proof Senate and they did not.

Who are these insiders to which you refer above?

 

[Sir_Knight]

The Republicans and George Bush need to bear the responsiblity for their poor decisions. The American people have spoken.

And the Catholic church has also spoken that those who support pro-abortion officials are also guilty of that serious MORTAL sin.

Think about how many Catholics voted for pro-abortion officials. How many of them are truly sorry for their actions? What happens to sin that is not repentant? It remains on the soul!