Contemplating the Catholic Vote

Justin Paulette

Justin Paulette is an attorney practicing international law in bella Italia. He hails from the great Buckeye State, "The Heart of it All," the only state with a bridge which you can cross and still be on the same side of the river, home of the hot dog, pop top soda can and the largest basket in the world! Though he's spent the past decade jet-setting across the Atlantic with one foot in London and the other on Capitol Hill, he still fancies himself a Mid-western, God-fearing, role-playing geek at heart.

Posted:

03/2/08

Politico fronts an article on Obama's stagnation among Catholics, who seem unbudged in their preference of Clinton. The articles only briefly touches upon the primary reason for the lopsided favor - Clinton carries the Hispanic vote, which accounts for a significant portion of the overall Catholic block within Democratic circles. Yet much ink is spent on senseless ruminations over the close ties between Catholic sensibilities and Clinton's "Methodism and her liberalism," as opposed to Obama's United Church of Christ Protestantism.

While such self-indulgent rationalizing may provide explanations for the Catholic vote in the primary battle between Clinton and Obama (that is, among Catholic Democrats), the unasked question regards the drift of the Catholic vote in the looming general election. In 2004, the traditionally Democratic "Catholics block" shifted to Bush by 52% - 47% (interestingly, during the same election which featured a Catholic Democratic candidate). Analysis reveals that the Catholic vote was just as pivotal for the GOP victory as the celebrated "born-again" Evangelical turn-out.

As goes the Catholic vote, so goes the election.