Probably nobody here cares but McCain has lost the Catholic vote..

[Oleladylib]

I'm a Catholic liberal(NO-it's not an oxymoron) and life long democrat..but many friends are of a conservative nature...McCain is out of their thinking..mostly,because of the recent "flap" but also, the war factor..It's a "local poll" but I think indicative of a trend.

[Alexander]

1. No president in recent history won without the Catholic vote.

That's a good sign for us.

[featherman]

17. Technically not true... Bush "won" in 2000 while losing

the Catholic vote to Gore 50-47. Catholics are the largest religious denomination in the country by far and a notorious swing vote

Identifying the GOP in the minds of Catholic voters in the midwest and southwest as the party who embraces anti-Catholic bigots like Hagee should certainly be part of the Democratic Party's message this fall. The party of tolerance and ecumenicalism versus the party of bigotry and hate.

**The 2005 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reported the following figures, based primarily on 2003 denominational reporting data:
1. Roman Catholic Church: 67.2 million.
2. Southern Baptist Convention: 16.4 million.
3. United Methodist Church: 8.2 million.
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 5.5 million.
5. Church of God in Christ: 5.4 million.
6. National Baptist Convention USA: 5 million.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.9 million.
8. National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million.
9. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): 3.2 million.
10. Assemblies of God: 2.7 million.

[Support the ACLU]

2. I missed the flap. What did McCain do to lose the Catholic vote?

[angie_love]

3. He embraced the endorsement of anti-catholic pastor Hagee

[virtualobserver]

7. catch-22

who does McCain want to alienate......The Hagee crowd won't stand for denouncin' or rejectin'..

[Support the ACLU]

8. That was awfully boneheaded

[Abacus]

5. I missed it too, but here's something about it from Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/29/john-hagees-mccain-endor_n_89189.html

[Support the ACLU]

9. Thanks for the link

[Divernan]

4. Yes, I forwarded the story about "the Catholic Church is a whore" toCatholic republicans

re McCain refusing to reject the whacko preacher's endorsement, said "minister" having trashed the Catholic Church

[napi21]

6. I heard that yesterday. Donahue who's a radical Catholic was

doing an interview and screaming about McCain's link to Haggee who always preaches about the Catholic Church being a cult and a whore church. He said he and the Catholic League will NOT STOP until they defeat McCain over this endorsement.

I can't stand listening to Donahue, but this time, the enemy of my enemy is my friend!

[mdmc]

10. Donahue is the real deal

Dems should listen to him.

[napi21]

11. THE REAL DEAL? Like when he pushed all the Catholics NOT to vote

for Kerry, or because he encourages all Catholics to be single issue voters (abortion)? Sorry, but I think he's a radical nut!

[fujiyama]

27. You mean real deal...

as in a real nutcase right?

That guy is nuts. But if he and Hagee/McCain are going to duke it out over this, fine with me.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. Are you thinking of Phil Donahue, and not Bill Donohue?

Phil:



Bill:

[Zynx]

12. If we can get conservative Catholics to stay home or even vote Dem in protest

that will be impossible for the Republicans to make up.

[powergirl]

15. Catholic reporting in here

I'm Catholic and I never understood why a practicing Catholic would EVER vote Republican. The Republican "evangelicals" HATE Catholics, think we are idol worshipers, etc. The Church's position on the war, social justice, etc are issues that are in line with Democratic philosophy. They forget that the pope was P.O.d at GWB for authorizing the Iraq war.

On the abortion issue - if you want to stop abortion - GIVE THESE LADIES SOME ECONOMIC SECURITY so they don't get pregnant or don't have to make sad, difficult, and desperate decisions. They are a bunch of jerks using the Church as a vehicle to promote their prejudice, etc.

As for Donahue, and "The Catholic League" - The League, as Kathy Griffin so eloquently espoused, consists of that guy (Donahue) and a laptop computer. The "League" is not an organization promoted by the Catholic church. He is a crack pot and his association with the Guns and Jesus crowd has finally bit him in the ass.

[napi21]

25. I'm a lifelong Catholic too, and I've always believed that

abortion IS murder, but it's also not something the gov't or politics should stick it's nose in! I as well as everyone else has the right to NOT have one!!! It's NOT something anyone is forcing anyone to do.

You're right on the other points too. Everything the Pubs stand for is against what we've been taught is right!

[powergirl]

28. Peace be with you lady

Doesn't this make you batty! I have three kids and my husband and I send them all to Catholic school - at great financial sacrifice (we aren't wealthy folks!). My oldest son is an altar server. I send my children to Catholic school to obtain the very best secular and religious education I can afford because the wingnuts have infiltrated our public schools here in Texas. The public schools are being pressured to teach "intelligent design" and other wacky stuff. At least on the topic of education, the church is still strong and believes in teaching evolution, etc.

I agree with all of your points. I would never get an abortion. But religion cannot dictate the laws in a Democracy. That is how we ended up with the Tali ban.

[Algorem]

13. the Pope isn't a DU'r ?!

[CitizenLeft]

14. I care!

Good! One less demographic for him!

[Window]

16. I care, too.

Between things like this, and Mr.-100-year-war-McCain constantly putting his foot in his mouth every tme he opens it, he should be easy to beat in Nov.

[provis99]

18. but he probably gained more Protestant votes than he lost among Catholics

the Protestant fundamentalists had a hate-on for McCain; by being endorsed by a fascist nut like Hagee, McCain probably bolstered himself in the South.

[Oleladylib]

20. I don't think so...but, we'll see

[featherman]

22. Bolstering the GOP base in the South while weakening the image of the GOP

in the Midwest and Southwest with a critical voting group is a trade-off I'm happy to live with.

[yardwork]

36. I agree! I'm glad that they made that dumb choice!

[yardwork]

35. But who were they going to vote for anyway? No way would they ever vote Democratic.

Protestant fundamentalists aren't going to be motivated to go to the polls and vote for McCain just because he got endorsed by a fascist nut. They'll never vote for the Democratic nominee anyway, and this won't be enough to get them to support McCain.

[Oleladylib]

19. Appreciate the replys...I am a dyed in the wool realist and know the

church is a polar opposite from perfect..yet, the political arena is not a place that it should play importance..Yes, I have evangelical friends who don't think we are Christian..so be it..keep it out of the arena..Let's respect, honor and practice decent humanitarian lives..For a realistic follow that is Christian..for those who don't profess that philosophical belief..it's still a good way to live. I have a major problem with all candidates who want to use God as a ploy..worse yet as a "backer".

[senseandsensibility]

21. k and r

This story really should be receiving more attention.

[grantcart]

23. very significant I just ran out of posts

thanks for posting the question

[sniffa]

24. I'm going to go out on a limb, and guess that this won't hurt him much

You really have to separate the Catholics into at least 3 groups: the Holiday Catholics, the liberal Catholics, and the fundy, assaulting people outside of Planned Parenthood (and in one horrible case, murdering the employees) in Brookline Catholic.

The Holiday Catholics will most likely vote the way they normally would - possibly, a tiny sliver will hold this against him.

The liberal Catholic (a large segment) weren't voting for McCain anyhow.

The third category are voting for McCain come hell or high water as he doesn't kill God's children.

[TwilightGardener]

26. This may hurt him in Northeast/Midwest/Mid-Atlantic swing states

like PA and MI and OH, where there are plenty of socially conservative Catholic Democrats who sometimes vote for Repubs. My own family in PA is sort of this way.

[powergirl]

29. This can hurt him in Maryland and Michigan - and with the Latinos

My husband, a native of Detroit, thinks this is bad news for the midwestern and east coast Catholics. I think the Republicans forget that about 90% of the Latinos are Catholic too.

[NEDem]

30. The Haggee endorsement isn't going to help him either

that guy is a loon and hates catholics.

[intaglio]

31. Just say a Hail Mary for him

He'll need all the help he can get

[yardwork]

33. That's very good news. Lots of Catholics voted for * in 2000 and 2004.

Days before the 2004 election, a lot of Catholic dioceses urged priests to tell their parishioners not to vote for Kerry because of abortion. Little kids came home from parochial schools telling their parents that the nuns said that Kerry was a "baby-killer."

It made a difference. I would think that Catholics would have supported Kerry. He's Catholic. As a Democrat, he stands for things that Catholics believe in - taking care of the poor, notably.

But the Republicans used abortion as a wedge issue to get Catholics to vote against the Democrats in 2000 and 2004.

[susankh4]

34. It's possible...

that we are going to see some major realigning of party loyalties this coming year.

On both sides of the aisle.

Fascinating.