Bizarre, Politics

Romney’s Catholic Problem

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Just this past summer, American Roman Catholic bishops were decrying the Obama Administration for forcing its ancillary institutions like colleges and hospitals to pay for reproductive health services for its women employees. Lawsuits were filed, press releases were released, and commentators were assembled on cable news to express the outrage. The holy fathers even channeled Rev. Martin Luther King (never a favorite of the Catholic hierarchy — how could he be with that name?) calling for civil disobedience to contest the mandates of the new law. Letters were written to the flock (with approved language, of course) from the bishops bellowing, ““We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law.” The bishops even marketed a catchy name for their protest:  the flag waiving, patriotic sounding,  Fortnight for Freedom. (Yes, His truth was marching on in full display!)

The dire predictions from the Catholic leadership: Obama will have a tough time this fall among the RCs. Romney must have been reading the church bulletin because it was surely no coincidence that he chose Catholic firebrand, Rep. Paul Ryan, as his running mate. The not so subtle GOP even traipsed out anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, anti-Obama, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, to deliver the closing prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., next week.  Catholics were being seriously wooed with everything Madison Avenue and the Business Roundtable could muster.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Romney’s coronation.  A new Pew poll shows that Americans Catholics are embracing the incumbent’s campaign to the tune of 15 percentage points. Obama leads Romney 54% to 39% among likely Catholic voters in a poll released September 12 by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.  That’s up from Obama’s two percentage point lead over Romney in a June poll by Pew. What accounts for the anti-establishment surge?

The Catholic vote is not as monolithic as some would have you believe. Obama won the Catholic vote in 2008 due in large part to the votes of Hispanic and African American Catholics. That coalition seems to be holding and Obama has drawn even with Romney among Caucasian Catholic voters. Add to that Obama’s edge among female voters (56% to 37%) and you get a serious headache for Romney strategists.

But how strong is Obama’s support versus Romney’s and how likely are voters to change their minds? More bad news for Romney. Pew finds that Obama has the strongest support of any incumbent since Bill Clinton and perplexingly for Romney his support is more positive than negative calling into question Romney’s negative ad blitz.

At this stage in the campaign, Barack Obama is in a strong position compared with past victorious presidential candidates. With an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters, Obama holds a bigger September lead than the last three candidates who went on to win in November, including Obama four years ago. In elections since 1988, only Bill Clinton, in 1992 and 1996, entered the fall with a larger advantage.

Well, things can change, right? Pew says maybe not:

Compared with many previous elections at this point in the campaign, more voters this year say they are absolutely certain to vote for their chosen candidate. Only 22% of registered voters (and 18% of likely voters) can be classified as swing voters …

Romney faces an uphill fight but surely not an insurmountable one. His problem may be that some of his most trusted allies from the pulpit might be leading only themselves with the rank and file having a mind of their own.

Source: CNN and throughout.

~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

105 thoughts on “Romney’s Catholic Problem”

  2. I have known Catholics all my life. When I was little the Catholics I knew were little and they were obedient to the nuns and priests while they were in the presence of nuns and priests, and they expressed great fear of both nuns and priests. The Catholics I then knew when I was young were oblivious of nuns and priests, and scared of their parents and thus afraid of getting pregnant (during the time when abortion was illegal), although the BOYS were not afraid of their girlfriends getting pregnant (abortion was still illegal and there was no child support issue). Then while I was relatively young, the Catholics I knew were pretty blase about all the Catholic stuff, with a few exceptions (but there are always a few exceptions). After the two-decade-long pedophile-priest scandal period, the Catholics I knew stopped talking about the Church or its tenets. Now, I have one Catholic friend who speaks almost obsessively about various prophecies of the Holy Virgin and nobody else even seems to wear a cross.

    My conclusion is that the cure for intense scary religious neurosis is time. But it won’t work in Brooklyn or Utah.

  6. SWM, You are a classic Dem. That means even stupid Dems pols are smarter than any Republican. You’re as predictable as the sunset. Biden is a buffoon. There are staunch Dems here who are painfully aware of that fact. When you sit in the middle as do I, you see the mindset of idealogues on both sides and you just shake your head in disbelief.. You merely diminish yourself by saying the emporer is fully clothed. However, you double down and say he’s really Beau Brummel. Let’s move on from this really insignificant debate.

  7. Have all viewers then look at the movie” Obama Deception “and go on line to the internet go to You Tube where because the goverment as yet can not trek or monitor all actions and watch the movie which will show him for what he is a impostor,, and just a puppet for the real controller behind him, the financial and Wall street empire. Of course Obama will be President again because the corrupt powers will want to put him in again to sign and to order our military to take over us. Our freedoms will no longer be and we had put him in power or did we really do it? , We must change our own history by fighting again like our forefathers did in 1776 because we don’t want marshal law to be enforced which sadly will happen if he is in power again because being president he has the powers to control and enforce it
    Sadly we if show that we want our freedoms back we will be taken from our homes and put into prisons, for using our freedoms of speech and other liberties to show others of what will come if they don ‘t change now and do what has to be done at this time in our history. The time is a little like in the past where we had to fight for our freedom from England, where now it’s from the President and the government.who will take all our freedoms and liberties from us if we don’t stand up for our freedoms now and make an effort to vote for the right man even if the vote had already been cast .WE SHOULD TELL THEM BY OUR OVERWHELMING VOTES WHO WE WANT. Romney may change our history by our votes if we all vote for him, Obama was one who just used words to gain our votes I didn’t vote for him, didn’t trust him and know I know why. His deception was to gain our trust and confidence and then tear down all of our freedoms. Did anyone really know him. the answer was and is a No. In order to know a man you have to look into his past. We do know MIT Romney he is an American and his past is out there for all to see. At least show him that your an American who will fight again for your freedom of choice by backing the right man and not a unknown man with no love for us or our American freedoms and liberties..

  8. Nick, I think you are underestimating Biden. He is not as smart as Obama but probably much smarter than Ryan.

  9. Elaine,

    Thanks….. I guess it’s time for peter and Paul to embrace Joseph Smith……

  11. More catholics can relate to catholic Joe Biden and his family than to the other catholic Ryan.

  12. Why Religious Leaders Have Condemned The Ryan-Romney Budget
    By Sally Steenland, Director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress Action Fund
    Aug 13, 2012
    http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/13/683291/why-religious-leaders-have-condemned-the-ryan-romney-budget/

    Excerpt:
    Now that Mitt Romney has picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate, Ryan’s radical budget constitutes Romney’s economic platform. The Ryan-Romney budget is based on a number of false and dangerous notions: that an unfettered free market can provide all that society needs, that slashing critical programs for struggling families while cutting taxes for the rich will make the nation stronger, and that ruthless individualism and selfishness trump community.

    Not surprisingly, faith leaders condemned the Ryan budget — and the philosophy behind it — when it was first introduced in the House of Representatives last year. They intensified their criticism when the House passed the Ryan budget this spring. Here’s some of what them said:

    – Catholic nuns, priests, and friars have called the Ryan budget “immoral,” a “severe failure,” and the “height of hypocrisy.” Sister Simone Campbell led a 17-city “Nuns on the Bus” tour this summer to visit faith-based social service programs that would be hurt by cuts proposed in the Ryan budget. Last week her organization, NETWORK, and the Franciscan Action Network invited Mitt Romney to spend a day with them visiting the poor in order to meet the people who’d be affected by their budget cuts. NETWORK issued a statement after the Ryan-VP announcement saying, “We agree with Catholic Bishops that Paul Ryan’s budget fails the test of Catholic Social Teaching since it deliberately harms people at the economic margins.”

    – Catholic bishops have called the Ryan budget “unjustified and wrong” and failing a moral test. In April the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a public letter to the House of Representatives saying that the federal budget must “protect poor, vulnerable people.”

  13. Has there ever been a time when the antiquated child molesting leadership of the Catholic Church has been more out of touch with its flock? The flock was already in decline for decades before this I wouldn’t be surprised to see that trend accelerate as the disconnect grows. At some point there will be a realignment, either a smaller, much more conservative church, a complete turn over in senior leadership or a division into two churches. I can’t see it going smoothly.

  15. Romney made a very poor choice when he chose ultra conservative catholic disciple of Ayn Rand,Paul Ryan, as his running mate. Most catholics use birth control and favor social programs. I think the choice of Ryan destroyed his chances with all but the most conservative wealthy catholics. The video about the 47% was the final straw.

  16. jumeirajames, Good point. However, whatever the reason Romney isn’t clicking w/ Catholics, my following of politics in my lifetime shows they are the most significant swing vote in national elections. Now, there was a time when if the bishop, cardinal, etc. showed a candidate is the favored choice that would be dispositive. The felonious criminal conspiracy vis a vis pedophiles priests ended that abruptly. Twenty years ago if a Timothy Dolan conducted a prayer @ The Republican convention that would have been powerful. Now it’s like being endorsed by Bernie Madoff.

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