November 4, 2010 8:06 AM
2010: Return of the (true) Catholic vote
I have drawn highlights from the following article, from today's American Spectator:
The Return of the Catholic Vote
The most accurate prognostication of the 2010 Catholic vote was made months ago when Rep. Bart Stupak (D, MI-01) decided not to run for reelection. Stupak, a "pro-life" Catholic, was the leader of a small hold-out group of House Democrats, also mostly Catholic, refusing to vote for a health care bill that included federal funding for abortion.
Stupak's sudden change of mind on May 21, without any concurrent changes to the health care bill, led to the passage of the health care legislation when his fellow hold-outs caved with him.
A veritable tsunami of pro-life outrage among Catholics ensued, in spite of attempts of White House shills like Sr. Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, to dispute the statements of the Catholic bishops about the presence of abortion funding in the health care legislation.
This outrage was apparent on November 2 when eight members of Stupak's coalition were defeated. . . .Pushed, in part, by concern about the health care bill, Catholic voters across the nation returned to the GOP in numbers resembling the presidential victory of George W. Bush in 2004. CNN exit polls record 55 percent of Catholics voted for the GOP while AP polling showed a whopping 58 percent, a twenty point increase since 2008. Either way, the 2008 Catholic support for Obama has completely reversed itself, perhaps with a vengeance.
In all, over 17 pro-life Catholics will be added to the Congress, while roughly 26 pro-abortion Catholics will be departing.
The heart of the Catholic vote belongs to voters who attend Mass regularly. Parse out these active Catholic voters from less active Catholics, and the results have consistently shown more support for socially conservative and Republican candidates.. . .The darling of the Catholic Left since 2008 has been Rep. Tom Perriello (D, VA-05). Touted by fake Catholic groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance, Perriello was the epitome of the "social justice" Democrat and described as pro-life in spite of his consistent support of abortion and the health care bill. Perriello was defeated by pro-life Presbyterian, state senator Robert Hurt, in spite of Obama's personal trips to Charlottesville.
Perhaps the biggest news of all for Catholics on election night was the emergence of a pro-life Catholic Speaker of the House, Cong. John Boehner (R, OH-08) to replace Nancy Pelosi, a pro-abortion Catholic. With Boehner at the helm, Catholics can be assured that a real fight will be underway for ridding our nation of federally funded abortions. [my emphasis - I really like Boehner, who is a self-made man from a family with 12 kids]
Catholic voters will never be a voting block, but they will respond in large and politically significant numbers to candidates on the basis of their Catholic values and world view. What does that mean for the 2012 presidential race? The magnitude of the mid-term swing of Catholic voters we just witnessed translates to 7 million of the 30 million Catholic voters who the GOP needs to keep or the Democrats need to win back by 2012.
Read entire article at American Spectator.
Posted in 2010 elections, Catholicism | Permalink
