Practicing Catholics Seen Key Swing Vote in US Presidential Race

Washington, May. 29, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The political sympathies of practicing Catholics in the US could be a crucial factor in this year's presidential election, according to an analysis story in the Wall Street Journal.

"For the first time since the presidential election of 1988, the observant white Catholic vote might be up for grabs this November," the Journal story begins.

The story takes note of the substantial divergence in voting patterns among American Catholics, with those who attend Mass each week showing a much more pronounced tendency to support candidates whose views match Church teachings on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and embryo research.

In the 2004 presidential race, for example, a Pew Foundation survey found that 61% of the white Catholics who attend Mass weekly supported President Bush, while that figure fell to 53% among those who only go to Mass occasionally. (Hispanic Catholics, categorized separately, gave Senator John Kerry a remarkable 63% of their vote.)

In the 2008 race, however, the Wall Street Journal reports: "Conservative Catholics now appear to be more concerned about the economy and the war in Iraq, and less motivated by abortion, the issue that has long kept the voting bloc aligned with Republicans." John Green, a Pew Forum fellow, says that the votes of practicing Catholics are "very much in play" in this year's campaign.

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