The in-depth survey of 2,055 registered voters (1,223 of whom were Catholic) was conducted Nov. 15-21. Done in partnership with Catholic-themed television network EWTN, the survey offers fresh insight into the mindset of a vast voting group long considered key to victory in national elections in this country.
“With few exceptions, for generations, tracking the preferences of the Catholic vote has proven to be a shortcut to predicting the winner of the popular vote — and I expect 2020 to be no different,” said John Della Volpe, director of the RealClear survey….
….The Democrats’ absolutism on abortion, the party’s rapid drift leftward on economic issues, and its acquiescence to the most esoteric demands of identity politics have kept evangelicals in the Republican camp. This paradigm isn’t likely to change, especially as the Democratic Party radicalizes itself from the inside. As for Catholics, well, that is still an unfolding story.
“If the patterns of recent decades hold, the weekly-Mass Catholics will skew heavily Republican in 2020, as the Christmas-and-Easter Catholics will skew heavily Democratic,” says conservative Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
“Whether what I’ve come to think of as ‘Trump Exhaustion Syndrome’ will cut into that Republican vote among active Catholics (as distinguished from nominal Catholics), I can’t say,” Weigel added. “But if the Democrats keep pushing each other farther and farther to the cultural left, there may be a strengthening of the Catholic vote for Republicans, however implausible a vehicle for the cause of cultural renewal the chap at the head of the ticket is.”
The above comes from a Dec. 9 story on Real Clear Politics website.
A word about the ‘exceptions’ Mr. della Volpe alludes to would be informative.
Be brave, liberal Catholics, and vote for those who uphold life! Cross that party line. If a candidate supports abortion, euthanasia and same sex “marriage”, their views are outside of the Church’s moral teachings. Your duty as a Catholic is to elect moral people. You can’t practice vice virtuously.
Kristin, to challenge us to check our views, ask if they are correct, and you warn us that we can’t practice vice virtuously. I’ve never heard it put that way. So, what are we to do? What if there is a candidate that says s/he is against abortion and acts to put an end to it, but exhibits behavior that is otherwise against what Jesus would do? What do we do then? Should I base my vote on just one issue or consider the totality of the person’s ethics and behavior?
Bob One, it’s about priorities. LIFE comes before liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If a candidate favors policies in complete opposition to the Church’s moral teachings, you must reject that person. There are no perfect candidates but when you vote for someone you KNOW will actively work to upend God’s will for us, you are putting yourself into dangerous spiritual danger by participating in their evil.
Bob One, no Catholic– and no decent person– casts their vote, in good conscience– for a Baby Killer! It’s real simple and clear!
Anyone with a good moral conscience, will never support a political candidate who promotes evils such as abortion, promiscuity, pornography, euthanasia, gay sex acts and gay “marriage,” gay child adoptions, destruction of Religious Liberty, persecution of religious and ethnic groups, and all other evils– it’s all in the Holy Bible, and in the Catechism, too! Christian Morality is absolute, you don’t “play God,” with excuses! Better to die practicing Virtue, than to “live easy,” self-indulgent, and sinful! And God knows all, and sees all!
Great post, Kristin!
I second that.
Bob One, that old “seamless garment” argument… While one may not like the “behavior” of the present commander in chief, he is the most pro-life president the US has ever had. And, without life, nothing else matters.
The present economy is affording better lives ((after allowing lives to be born), giving people the dignity of a job, and elevating the opportunities for all — including minorities. The Democrats promise many things to Blacks every 4 years, yet keep them in failing schools (Dems fight Charter Schools, while sending their own children to elite private schools), thus “keeping them on the plantation”, so to speak. The Blacks have figured this out and now it is projected that Trump has upwards of 35% of their support.
To Bob One and All: Putting Christ back into Christmas.
https://spectator.org/putting-the-christ-back-in-christmas/?utm_source=American%20Spectator%20Emails&utm_campaign=f660a8e0e9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_13_02_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_797a38d487-f660a8e0e9-104427405
Why can we not see that the triumph of Modernism in the Catholic hierarchy over the past 50 years has been the key to many half-catechized Catholics voting for politicians who vote decidedly against the official teaching of the Church?
May I add, this has left many Catholics voting against other Catholics being allowed to practice our precious faith in the public square Trying to please non-Catholics around us should not be our priority. Our faith needs to be first. It was bought by the blood of Christ. This is the faith of saints and martyrs for thousands of years. We should be proud to defend it at all cost. That means not allowing businesses, media or the government in America to continue to erode our liberties.
great pic of Weigel