Deal,
Thank you for your thoughtful unpacking of the Catholic question.
The most persuasive explanation of why Hillary would be doing better than Obama among Catholics is that she “inherits much of the Catholic goodwill bestowed upon her husband.”
What I’m still confused about is this: all of the issues cited by Ray Flynn and others (health care, children, families) can just as easily be ascribed to Obama. If it’s really simply that they'rer more familiar with her track record, well, that would seem to be a surmountable problem for Obama over time.
Here’s my theory: in the Democratic primaries, the Catholic vote has nothing to do with Catholicism. It’s not about abortion, it’s not about social justice. As you point out, Democratic Party catholics tend to be less mass-attending than the Catholic population as a whole. When all the dust settles and the numbers are fully crunched, it will turn out that other factors were the tale that wagged the Catholic vote. It may be that Hillary just runs strong among working class, rust belters, and that in Pennsylvania and Ohio, working class high school grads tend to be more Catholic.
Waddya think?
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Don't know what he'll say but that's a damned good analysis. There is no more a Catholic vote than there is Protestant vote.
in the Democratic primaries, the Catholic vote has nothing to do with Catholicism.
Well, yeah, kinda.... because the Democratic Party is really about who's going to deliver the goods. Catholic liberals probably feel comfortable with ol' Hill; I mean c'mon, doesn't she resemble the plainclothes nun in a powersuit who has been pretending to run the church in America when she's not running it in a real sense? Whereas Obama represents an unknown quantity, the unfamiliar, the "other". Who knows to what groups he'll be tossing out the scooby snacks.
Needless to say, this nut preacher Wright is not going to help Mr. O. Face it, Catholics are mostly white and this guy ain't sending much Christian love they way, nome sane.
Pauli
Catholics should be discussing the important issues like health care, financial planning for the family, outreach, helping the less advantaged, abortion, and education. In other words: John McCain.
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