NPR: In Search of the Ohio Catholic Voter

In Search of the Ohio Catholic Voter

As the Democratic and Republican contenders prepare for the Ohio primary on March 4, they have this statistic in their minds: in the primaries held to this date, roughly one in four voters are Catholic.

As NPR's Don Gonyea reports, Republican Catholics cite abortion as their number one issue, while Catholics who are Democrats are more concerned about issues like social justice, the death penalty and poverty. So far, that Democratic Catholic vote has belonged to Hillary Clinton: "In contests held through Super Tuesday, exit polls indicated that Clinton overwhelmingly won the Catholic vote. In delegate-rich states such as California, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, the Catholic vote went for Clinton by a margin of 2 to 1. She also racked up big margins in New Mexico and Arizona and won the demographic in every state except Missouri and Georgia."

But in Ohio, things might be changing. In Wisconsin, Obama edged closer to Clinton among Catholics and in Ohio there is a chance that he could split the Catholic vote with Clinton.

As Don points out, the Catholic vote may not be as important as it use to be, but it still matters. And how they vote in the upcoming primary could be an indicator of how they will vote in November.

5:09 PM ET | 02-22-2008 | permalink

Comments

After all of the priest sex scandals and wear and tear on the conservative base, I feel that voters would be looking for somebody to really make sense of how religious beliefs should interface with politics. I beleive Obama has far more insight in that area than the other candidates, as seen in this speech:

http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/060628-call_to_renewal_1/

This is what really turned me on to him as a conservative christian with a liberal heart...

Sent by Chris Reilly | 6:07 PM ET | 02-22-2008

I have seen a bumper sticker recently that says it all: "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion."

Sure, my fellow Catholic Democrats may convince themselves that, by voting for Clinton and Obama, abortion isn't the issue. Let's get real. Abortion is always the issue. It may not be the only issue, but it is the issue. Whatever else a president does, the lasting effect they have on history is their nominees to the Supreme Court. So long as Roe v. Wade hasn't been overturned, who is on the Supreme Court will matter. Since the Supreme Court will continue to matter, so will the president's position on abortion.

The only way it stops being the issue is for either a pro-life Democrat to win our nomination or a pro-abortion Republican to win their nomination. Neither event seems likely in the presidential race.

I'm a Catholic. I'm a Democrat. I'm pro-life. Apparently, Don Gonyea didn't talk with me in coming to his conclusions about Catholic Democrats, or anyone from Democrats for Life of America, for that matter.

Sent by Matthew Scallon | 3:49 PM ET | 02-27-2008

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