God-o-Meter

The Catholic (Republican) Case for Obama

Tuesday February 19, 2008

Categories: Barack Obama

kmiec.jpgGod-o-Meter can't believe it missed this Slate story several days back. Douglas W. Kmiec, the Catholic legal scholar who chaired Mitt Romney's Committee on the Constitution, makes the Catholic case for Barack Obama. Given that Kmiec is a big deal in GOP circles--he was Ronald Reagan's constitutional lawyer--and how politically scandalous his warm feelings for Obama are, God-o-Meter is surprised that this piece hasn't made more waves:

Now, don't think me daft, but when Obama gave his victory remarks in Iowa calling upon America to "choose hope over fear and to choose unity over division," he was standing squarely in the shoes of the "Great Communicator." Notwithstanding all of Bill Clinton's self-possessed heckling to the contrary, Obama was right—Reagan was a "transformative" president. Reagan liked to tell us he was proudest of his ability to make America feel good about itself. He did. Catholic sensibility tells me Obama wants it to deserve that feeling....

However hard-working, intelligent, and policy savvy she may be (and she is), Clinton seldom inspires even the so-called "social justice" Catholics or reveals that rare gift of empathy that defined Reagan and that one glimpses in Obama. Say what you will about not preferring style over substance, modern leadership requires both, especially now when the international community—whose help we need to arrest terrorism—seldom gives us the benefit of the doubt....

Beyond life issues, an audaciously hope-filled Democrat like Obama is a Catholic natural. Anyone seeking "liberty and justice for all" really can't be satisfied with racially segregated public schools that don't teach. And there's something deeply hypocritical about being a nation of immigrants that won't welcome any more of them. And that creation that God saw as good in Genesis? Well, even without seeing Al Gore melt those glaciers over and over again, Catholics chose Al to better steward a world beset with unnatural disasters. Climate change is driven by mindless consumption that devotes more ingenuity to securing golden parachutes than energy independence....

Sorry to tell you this, Sen. McCain, but a good number of the Catholics I know are not certain to light candles at the Republican political altar. Some of us who rode McCain's Straight Talk Express before the Republican commitment to a balanced budget put us on track toward a $400 billion deficit appreciate his confessed desire to redeem himself as a faithful conservative. But there are suspicions....

So, here's the thing: John McCain will have many Catholics in the pews a little while longer, but more than a few of us are thinking of giving him up for Lent. Reagan used to say that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left him. The launch of "Reaganites for Obama" might not be far behind. We might not be there yet, but we're getting close.

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Comments
Polycarp, not chaos.
February 20, 2008 12:03 AM

Obama is not just pro-choice, he is pro-abortion. Once death is an acceptable choice all else crumbles on the morality train. And of course he cares nothing about marriage as Jesus taught it. The taxation that he plans for American families has absolutely no hope in it.

His hypnotizing of young people is typical of the Humanist indoctrination that has brought America to its twilight hour. We are watching the Lord of the Flies come to real life.

We are Rome once again, with the same tragic vices and the blindness of untold unassimilating immigrants, put into place by the same powers and pricipalities that drove that once proud and haughty civilization to a shattered end.

Change? What hope is there in America changing into either Venezuela or Cuba?

It's not the eleventh hour for America, it's the eleventh hour and 59-minutes. We're headed to dying Europe here on the fruited plains.

"God Bless America."

(A song written by an immigrant to America that learned english.)

Patrick
February 20, 2008 6:20 AM

Why can't some people grasp that being pro-choice doesn't make a person pro-abortion. I think a woman has the right to choose, but needs to understand she must live with the consequences in this life and beyond. Do we really want government under the control of idealogues dictating something so personal? Although I'm pro-choice I agree more effort needs to be made to provide women who are considering abortion with necessary resources and support to weigh other possible options before choosing to terminate a pregnancy.

Brian
February 20, 2008 7:21 PM

Though I am personally against abortion I have to say that if God gave us freedom to choose and free-will then who am I to say He is wrong? It doesn't mean that I am for it but I just know that I am not more wise than God.
I also try my best to remember that I am not God when it comes to judging either. That duty should be left to the one who has that job. I didn't see any add for it in the paper so I figure the position is still filled.

sonia
February 22, 2008 10:37 PM

I'm concerned about the fact that our Constitution is base on God and other morals that do not go hand in hand with other ideologies.
Think for a minute how our country was founded and if the new President has not belief for our ideologies how can it be an effective
Commander in chief or bring about unity among people?
I always voted democrat and while I do favor a woman in this case....it does not make me less educated but says I have strong convictions...I'm also catholic...

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This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about politics in our Politics forums.

The God-o-Meter (pronounced Gah-DOM-meter) scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn't guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria (Actually, the adjustment criteria are here). Click a candidate's head to get his or her latest God-o-Meter reading and blog post. And check back often. With so much happening on the campaign trail, God-o-Meter is constantly recalibrating!

God-o-Meter blogger Dan Gilgoff is Beliefnet's Politics Editor. A former political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, he is author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War.

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