Catholics and Kerry (Salon)

[cally]

This article is fascinating. (You can get a one day pass to Salon.) Many standard beliefs about how Catholics vote are questioned. Also raises a problem about Kerry picking Clark. They are both Catholic.

A few excerpts:

My sociological colleagues Jeff Brooks and Clem Manza have done the definitive work on "religious realignment" since 1950. "Realignment," in their work, is a movement of a religious group from one party to the other in its presidential vote, above and beyond the shift in the whole population in a given election. They report two actual realignments -- one a move from Republican to Democrat for liberal Protestants, and another from Democrat to Republican for evangelical Protestants. With the exception of the Kennedy "bump," Catholics continue in the same pattern of being more likely to vote for a Democratic president than white Protestants, given the general shift one way or another in a specific election.



snip...
Where do Catholics stand in this situation? As far as one can tell from the available data, they continue to be left-of-center, not as far left as black Protestants or Jews, but still further left than the Protestant majority. They were more likely than white Protestants to support President Clinton during the Evangelical crusade to get rid of him, more likely to oppose the Iraq war (as they did the Vietnam War), more likely to support social legislation -- more likely, in other words, to manifest the communal orientation that comes from their religious perspective

snip...

The issue about the Latino voters (I actually prefer the term Latins) is not whether they are Democrats, but whether they will vote. For reasons of culture and history they are not politically mobilized. (Whether they are less likely to be mobilized than Italians were a century ago is an interesting question.)

Here in Arizona (where I teach some of the time) a slight increase in their voting rates helped Clinton to win in 1996. If the Democrats could mobilize most of the Latinos in the state, it would become permanently Democratic (and the East Valley Mormons who currently run it would be swept out of office and my colleagues at the university would win a long-overdue raise).

on edit: forgot the link again

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/03/27/catholics/index.html

[Cleita]

1. Don't have a minute right now to look at this thoroughly.

It looks facinating particularly as a Latin(a)I am interested, but I will kick this up.

[DaisyUCSB]

2. They never really answer the question they present about 2 catholics

on the ticket. I've been wondering this myself if it would hurt more than help. Because I like the idea of Mary Landriue on the ticket, but the protestant(both white and black) backlash that might encur has been my main concern.

[cally]

3. I didn't know Landrieu was Catholic

I wonder if two Catholics on the ticket would hurt. I'm not sure there would be a Protestant backlash from more moderate Protestants. The evangelicals are already going for * but they may turnout in large numbers.

[UTUSN]

4. Unfortunately, the Church Hierarchy...

is doing their damnedest. It's going to take lots of lapsed Catholics to outvote the St Mel types. In Campaign 2000 that EWTN scary-looking nun was doing free advertising for Shrub non-stop.

One of the eternal questions: How can ONE issue outweigh the 99 other social justice issues the Church shares with the Liberal agenda?

(One of the other eternal questions: How can ANY minority member be a wingnut?)

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,605436,00.html?cnn=yes

.... Kerry's positions on some hot-button issues aren't sitting well with members of the church elite. Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: "People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion." ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[Crowdance]

5. The Time article reads like a threat

"a problem with John Kerry!????!" I don't understand how anyone can deny that religions like these are political organizations. This pastor is making statements that I would expect to come from Pat Buchanan or Tom DeLay. I would expect a genuine pastor to keep private John Kerry's disposition with his god, not blast it in a national magazine.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. Daschle Kucinich Kennedy Pelosi 144 memebers in congress are catholic

http://www.yourcongress.com/ViewArticle.asp?article_id=1684



List of Catholics in the Senate and House:

Joe Biden (D - DE)
John Breaux (D - LA)
Jim Bunning (R - KY)
Susan Collins (R - ME)
Tom Daschle (D - SD)
Mike DeWine (R - OH)
Chris Dodd (D - CT)
Pete Domenici (R - NM)
Dick Durbin (D - IL)
Peter Fitzgerald (R - IL)
Tom Harkin (D - IA)
Ted Kennedy (D - MA)
John Kerry (D - MA)
Mary Landrieu (D - LA)
Pat Leahy (D - VT)
Barbara Mikulski (D - MD)
Frank Murkowski (R - AK)
Patty Murray (D - WA)
Jack Reed (D - RI)
Rick Santorum (R - PA)
Bob Smith (R - NH)
George Voinovich (R - OH)
Maria Cantwell (D - WA)
Debbie Stabenow (D - MI)

Catholics in the House of Representatives:


Mike Castle (R - DE)
Bob Underwood (D - GU)
Anibal Acevedo-Vila (D - PR)
Sonny Callahan (R - AL)
John Larson (D - CT)
Butch Otter (R - ID)
Peter Visclosky (D - IN)
David Vitter (R - LA)
Bart Stupak (D - MI)
Gil Gutknecht (R - MN)
William Clay (D - MO)
John Sununu (R - NH)
Felix Grucci (R - NY)
Steve Chabot (R - OH)
Bob Brady (D - PA)
Patrick Kennedy (D - RI)
Paul Ryan (R - WI)
Ed Pastor (D - AZ)
Richie Neal (D - MA)
John Baldacci (D - ME)
Mark Kennedy (R - MN)
Frank LoBiondo (R - NJ)
Joe Skeen (R - NM)
James Langevin (D - RI)
Scott McInnis (R - CO)
Rosa DeLauro (D - CT)
Bill Lipinski (D - IL)
Tim Roemer (D - IN)
Anne Northup (R - KY)
Billy Tauzin (R - LA)
Jim McGovern (D - MA)
Walter Jones (R - NC)
Peter King (R - NY)
Bob Borski (D - PA)
Bob Schaffer (R - CO)
Cynthia McKinney (D - GA)
Greg Ganske (R - IA)
Luis Gutierrez (D - IL)
Dave Camp (R - MI)
Betty McCollum (D - MI)
Chris Smith (R - NJ)
Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY)
Peter DeFazio (D - OR)
Melissa Hart (R - PA)
Jerry Kleczka (D - WI)
Marty Meehan (D - MA)
Jim Barcia (D - MI)
Karen McCarthy (D - MO)
Gene Taylor (D - MS)
Henry Hyde (R - IL)
Bill Luther (D - MN)
Frank Pallone (D - NJ)
Tim Holden (D - PA)
George Miller (D - CA)
Chris John (D - LA)
Ed Markey (D - MA)
Michael Ferguson (R - NJ)
Joe Crowley (D - NY)
Dave Obey (D - WI)
Nancy Pelosi (D - CA)
Mike Capuano (D - MA)
Connie Morella (R - MD)
Jim Oberstar (D - MN)
Bill Pascrell (D - NJ)
John Boehner (R - OH)
Kevin Brady (R - TX)
Joe Moakley (D - MA)
Dale Kildee (D - MI)
Kenny Hulshof (R - MO)
Marcy Kaptur (D - OH)
Nick Lampson (D - TX)
Ellen Tauscher (D - CA)
Bill Delahunt (D - MA)
David Bonior (D - MI)
Dennis Kucinich (D - OH)
Richard Pombo (R - CA)
Joe Knollenberg (R - MI)
Paul Kanjorski (D - PA)
Jerry Costello (D - IL)
Patrick Tiberi (R - OH)
Jack Murtha (D - PA)
Bob Menendez (D - NJ)
Vito Fossella (R - NY)
Anna Eshoo (D - CA)
Bill Coyne (D - PA)
Charlie Rangel (D - NY)
Pat Toomey (R - PA)
Ruben Hinojosa (D - TX)
Mark Foley (R - FL)
John Dingell (D - MI)
Jose Serrano (D - NY)
Silvestre Reyes (D - TX)
Lane Evans (D - IL)
Jim Traficant (D - OH)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R - FL)
Ray LaHood (R - IL)
Bob Ney (R - OH)
Mike Doyle (D - PA)
George Radanovich (R - CA)
Frank Mascara (D - PA)
Charlie Gonzalez (D - TX)
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R - FL)
Mike McNulty (R - NY)
Phil English (R - PA)
Clay Shaw (R - FL)
John Sweeney (R - NY)
Sherry Boehlert (R - NY)
John McHugh (R - NY)
Jim Walsh (R - NY)
Maurice Hinchey (D - NY)
Ciro Rodriguez (D - TX)
John LaFalce (D - NY)
Xavier Becerra (D - CA)
Jack Quinn (R - NY)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D - CA)
Grace Napolitano (D - CA)
Ed Royce (R - CA)
Joe Baca (D - CA)
Loretta Sanchez (D - CA)
Chris Cox (R - CA)

[UTUSN]

7. So.... We've Got 400 Votes for the Dem Candidate?

But that nun on EWTN is SCARY.