by Glenn Thrush and Nia-Malika Henderson
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Barack Obama was waiting in the wings when the priest began to bless his rally last week in this conservative, middle-class Indiana town.
“God of power and light open our hearts and minds to the needs of people all over the world,” intoned the Rev. Clement Davis as 2,500 heads bowed reverentially in the local high school gym.
Davis said he had come at the request of a parishioner — not the campaign’s behest — but the appearance of the priest came during a week when the Illinois senator intensified his efforts to win over Catholics, a constituency that has proved widely resistant to Obama’s candidacy.
Catholics are among the most powerful swing voting blocs in American politics; they backed the winner in seven of the last eight presidential elections. And Obama’s failure to connect with a majority of Catholics in the Democratic primaries is one of his campaign’s biggest headaches — one that poses a major threat to his chances of winning heavily-Catholic Pennsylvania next week and the big prize in November, experts say.
“It’s a big problem for him not just now but if he prevails and goes to the general election,” said pollster Chris Borick, director of Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
“He’s trailed in all of our polls among Catholics and that’s been consistent in other polls,” he said.
See the rest of the story from Newsday:
He’s consistently lost Catholics, who make up a quarter of the national electorate, by two-to-one margins against Hillary Rodham Clinton in many big states.
Obama wasn’t talking about Catholics specifically when he claimed small town Americans were bitter and cling to guns and religion — but it will hardly help him make up lost ground.
To deal with the challenge, Obama’s campaign is aggressively courting Catholics at the grassroots, while denying he has a Catholic problem in the first place.
Last week, the campaign kicked off an effort to win over Pennsylvania Catholics led by Mark Linton, a former Senate staffer of Obama’s who specializes in poverty issues and community organizing. The campaign is deploying neighborhood canvassing teams, holding Catholic debate parties, reaching out to allies in local parishes and using high-profile anti-abortion officials like Sen. Robert Casey to ease concerns about Obama’s unabashedly pro-abortion-rights record.
On Friday, Obama announced the creation of a national Catholic advisory board led by Casey and former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer — all the while denying suggestions that Obama is alarmed by the voting patterns.
“Senator Obama’s done really well with Catholics,” Roemer told reporters. “This perception that he doesn’t do well with Catholics, that there’s a gap there, it’s not necessarily accurate.”
To make his case, Roemer pointed to Obama’s victories among Catholics in Wisconsin, Louisiana and Vermont.
But that’s only part of the picture. In fact, Obama has lost eight of the top 10 states ranked by Catholic population — New York, California, New Jersey, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. He did win his home state of Illinois, with the nation’s fourth largest Catholic population, but narrowly lost the Catholic vote to Clinton there.
Polls show that the pattern could be repeated in sixth-ranked Pennsylvania, whose electorate is nearly one-third Catholic.
Casey, for his part, thinks grouping voters together under the label “Catholic” is a mistake because they are so diverse.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which has extensively studied the role of Christian denominations in American politics, divides Catholics into three ideological categories, each representing about 7 percent of general election voters. On the right are anti-abortion, socially conservative “traditionalists” who overwhelmingly supported George W. Bush in 2004; on the left are predominantly pro-abortion rights, secular “modernists’ who backed John Kerry en masse; and in the middle are “centrists.”
Aides to both campaigns agree that Clinton has a clear edge over Obama among the working-class voters, mostly white, who identify themselves as centrists and traditionalists, while both candidates split the vote of secular, better-educated Catholics.
Clinton has dominated among Latino Catholics, who make up about 3 percent of the general voting population — a trend underscored by her big margins among Hispanics in Texas, California, Nevada and Arizona.
“If you look at the exit poll data it says Obama’s got a Catholic problem,” says Trinity College religion professor Mark Silk, who runs a Web site covering religion and politics. “But if you look deeper, you see that he doesn’t do all that well among white Protestants either. So, I’d put it this way: He’s got a white Christian problem and a Latino problem.”
While the country’s Catholic population is diverse, Obama seems to face the greatest skepticism from white, blue-collar Catholics in key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Jersey and Michigan, Borick says.
“That’s why his small-town comment is so damaging,” he adds. “He’s worked really hard in Pennsylvania to make inroads in these communities on pocketbook and working-class issues and now all that’s going to dissipate because of one offhand comment.”
John McCain faces his own problems among Catholics, for his continued support for the Iraq war, his initial reluctance to aid homeowners facing foreclosure – and his relationship with a Texas preacher who has made anti-Catholic comments.
But Republicans have had recent success boosting turnout among GOP-leaning Catholics. After losing Catholics in 2000, George W. Bush’s campaign launched a major effort to woo conservative Catholics by focusing on gay marriage, stem cell research and abortion.
Obama’s advisers have laid out their own strategy for attracting Catholics, focused on defusing the heated controversies over abortion while energizing younger Catholics who are attracted to the pro-immigrant sentiments and commitment to social justice espoused by both Obama and the church.
“I work with a lot of young Catholic students and to a person they [SAID]Senator Obama was the one to become president – and if he wasn’t they might leave the country," said Sister Catherine Pinkerton, a Washington-based childrens’ health advocate and member of Obama’s Catholic advisory committee.
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Comments
As a Catholic I can tell you Obama is pro-abortion and even voted for infanticide. He is clearly a pro homosexual civil unions if not gay marriage which is anathema to Roman Catholic doctrine.
Duh who'd a thought he would attract Catholics if we didn't believe in our faith maybe.
The week when the Pope is coming to America the drivebys think we'll just forget our beliefs and vote for this bloke. No way Jose! Typical secularist pop culture new age psychobabble.By the way, this guy is for partial birth abortion it's every womans right to torture babies but not torture Islamic Jihadists who want to kill us all. Jerry White, Springfield, IL
Posted by: Jerry White | April 14, 2008 8:53 AM
I don't know any Catholic who wouldn't support Obama. Too many things about the right are completely immoral.
Posted by: RomanB | April 14, 2008 9:30 AM
Obama wants your money to kill babies - period
Posted by: RichG | April 14, 2008 10:19 AM
My husband and I were both raised Catholic and are both backers of Obama. I have a lot more issues with the Catholic church than I do with Obama. Obama tells it like it is. The Catholic church continues to deny women access to the priesthood and brushed child sexual abuse under the carpet for years.
Posted by: Mary Ann | April 14, 2008 10:26 AM
The first two posters on this story need to put away their anathemas and pay attention to what Senator Obama says and who he is.
As a Catholic with an M.A. in Catholic Theology, I strongly support Senator Obama. Furthermore, I know plenty of religious sisters and priests who also support him.
Distortions of Senator Obama's character and positions -- or lies -- are not very fitting coming from people who espouse a strong religious background.
Posted by: GaryK | April 14, 2008 10:48 AM
Say it ain't so: Jerry White is a Catholic? All this time, I thought he was a Pharisee. His views are certainly pharisaical.
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | April 14, 2008 10:54 AM
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. There are PLENTY of pro-choice Catholics. They just can't express themselves anymore.
The premise of this story is nuts. There were plenty of Catholics who voted for Bill for Prez, Hill for Senate and will vote for her in the fall if she's at the top of the ticket.
Obama just now revealing he went to a public school in Indonesia where muslim women 'didn't cover their faces and worked outside the home' will harm him more. Because American women know the Muslim women do have (and apparently accept) a back of the bus status in the home and elsewhere there.
Don't worry about the Catholic vote. Worry about the ticked off middle aged women (yes, some of us have a spare tire--deal with it!)
Posted by: golden oldie | April 14, 2008 11:11 AM
My husband and I totally agree with Roman and Mary Ann's comments. We are Catholic and have been Obama supporters from the beginning. He is a moral, intelligent, and thoughtful leader who is concerned for the welfare of our people and our country. Thoughtful Catholics know you should never be a 1 issue voter. Obama is not pro-abortion, but pro-choice. There is a big difference there.
Posted by: Diane | April 14, 2008 11:39 AM
Thank you Diane! God Bless you!
Posted by: Keith Lifetime Chicagoan and Southsider | April 14, 2008 12:20 PM
I agree with you 100%, Jerry. Any TRUE Catholic would not vote for Obama. Those who say they were "raised Catholic", it doesn't matter. That doesn't mean you're following the TRUE Catholic teachings. One poster says Obama is Pro-choice, not Pro-abortion. What's the difference? You can't be for life and be Pro-choice at the same time.
Any "Catholic",( and I use the term loosely due to the fact that many people call themselves that, though they fall very short of it), would know that it is completely wrong to vote for Obama, or even Hillary for that matter.
Posted by: Stephanie | April 14, 2008 12:31 PM
If you want to know where Obama stands on Abortion go to worldnetdaily 4/4/08 article by Jill Stanek, I think its called infanticide!!!
Posted by: Jewel | April 14, 2008 2:58 PM
I'm a practicing Catholic and have been an Obama supporter from day one. This article does identify the real problem - and it is not Catholics. It is blue collar white voters, many of whom are Catholic. Many of them are also small-minded, parochial in their outlooks and could be classified as rednecks. These people have often voted Republican anyway in the general electiion. The abortion issue doesn't help but it doesn't help Hillary either and who knows about McCain on this issue. Most of the Catholics I know that would vote for a Democrat, support Obama but they are all well educated and well traveled.
Posted by: Bobert | April 14, 2008 3:40 PM
Stephanie:
Who are these "TRUE" Catholics of which you speak?
Just for the record, I have been involved in various ministries since I was in college. My wife and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary this year. We have NEVER been unfaithful to each other. Can the Decider say as much? I doubt we will ever find out. What about McCain. What about Reagan? We already know about Bubba.
Back to the issue. I currently direct the choir at the 11:00 a.m mass. I chaired the committee to raise $2M for a new church. I am current president of the pastoral council.
So what does this have to do with anything? Just this. The message I get from each Sunday's readings is love one another and judge not other people. I hear a lot of judgment from people aligned with conservatism. It is like they never heard Jesus telling people that only those without sin should cast the first stone.
Sure, things like abortion and homosexuality don't square with the bible but Jesus always had an open spot for forgiveness and an understanding of the frailties of human nature. To castigate an otherwise honorable candidate like Obama for approaching things like Jesus indicates a narrow-mindedness that isn't consistent with the title of Christian. And he is with his original wife as far as I know.
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | April 14, 2008 3:52 PM
At the risk of sounding judgemental the Jerry's & Stephanie's are the one's who fall short - period.
Posted by: RomanB | April 14, 2008 3:55 PM
Obama is a genuine and refreshing candidate. He is inspiring. But, I think he needs a little bit more experience before becoming President. Also, he needs to modify his position on the following: raising taxes, pulling out of Iraq, and national healthcare. Raising taxes is going to hurt the economy. Pulling out of Iraq is going to guarantee a civil, if not really, a religious war of Sunni vs. Shia, which will eventually pull in Iran and Israel and escalate into a full blown world war with usage of chemical and biological weapons and attacks on US soil. The World Economy will go into a depression. Democracy needs to be established in Iraq. Pulling out now would be tantamount to saying that the US is a Paper Tiger and that would give the Islamofascists a green light. Nationalized Healthcare will lead to a longer wait for terrible service that is less cutting edge. Imagine going the post office for a check up or screening.
I think McCain will win and be a one-termer. I think Barack will be the following President.
Posted by: Betty | April 14, 2008 5:36 PM
This article does identify the real problem - and it is not Catholics. It is blue collar white voters, many of whom are Catholic. Many of them are also small-minded, parochial in their outlooks and could be classified as rednecks.
Posted by: Bobert | April 14, 2008 3:40 PM
Ah, yes, the "bitter" smalltown folks who "cling" to their superstition, fear, firearms and bigotry. They ARE the problem, aren't they, Bobert?
Posted by: JB | April 14, 2008 7:06 PM
I'm a "Choice" Catholic and I wouldn't vote for Obama under any conditions. It has nothing to do with Religion. It has to do with Americanism.
Posted by: Like It Is | April 15, 2008 3:30 AM