Catholic voters key to presidential win

[rug]

By Salena Zito
Tribune-Review

Published: Saturday, June 2, 2012, 6:10 p.m.
Updated 3 hours ago

Worry about eroding religious freedom could sway Roman Catholic voters further away from President Obama, and the Catholic voting bloc typically predicts the winner in presidential elections, experts say.

Yet, as conservatives continue to pound Obama in ads geared toward the faithful, some Catholics who care about the president's slip in polls plan to campaign for him on social media sites. Both sides, campaign strategists say, are trying to secure the important vote.

"Catholic voters are a critical and crucial part of winning the election," said Burns Strider, a Washington-based strategist the Democrats brought on to hold Catholic and evangelical voters after the 2004 election. Then, he said, "We were adrift ... in our mooring with a lot of our traditional constituencies."

The Obama campaign recently moved Michael Wear, an executive assistant in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, to Chicago to become the campaign's faith vote director. Wear, 23, a Buffalo, N.Y., native, describes himself as a Christian in his Twitter profile and often tweets about religion, politics and social issues.

http://triblive.com/news/1904890-74/obama-catholic-catholics-religious-voters-vote-election-romney-campaign-freedom

[dimbear]

1. Catholic voters need to remember how hard Bishop Romney struggled to save France from

their beliefs. That should inspire them with gratitude and deference.

[demosincebirth]

2. ...and the negative and derogatory posts on DU from our fellow liberals

[dimbear]

4. It is going to stretch the forgiving nature of a few Catholics when they are aware that

Mormon scriptures refer to their church as the great abomination, the great harlot, the whore of Babylon, and other such pet names. The Mormon church hasn't always been the bastion of universal toleration it is this week.

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon327.htm

[demosincebirth]

7. I agree, but you missed my point.

[dimbear]

8. To cheer everyone up from the unrelenting negativity of the anti side, Matthew Arnold:

"The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world."

Dover Beach, Arnold's greatest poem IMHO and one of the finest poems in English, a very positive and hopeful poem.

[pennylane100]

3. Other important groups need to ensure Obama's reelection are:

Women, Gays, Latinos, Unions, Uninsured working families, and Blacks. If we cannot win this one, we are forever gone.

[rug]

5. I wouldn't say forever gone but many groups are needed.

In the case of this group, posts routinely calling Catholics members of a hate group delight republicans. I wonder why that is.

[cbayer]

6. It's simple, rug. Very simple.