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Change the Voters, Not the Votees
01/03/2004

Lane Core puts his finger on an incorrect emphasis in commentary on the intersection of Catholicism and politics (bolding in original):

With all due respect, Ambassador, let's get real here. The problem is not that the Democratic Party has written off the Catholic vote. The problem is that (1) the Democratic Party has written off the Catholic conscience because (2) it can do so with impunity, counting on millions of Catholics to deny in the voting booth what they purport to profess in the pew. I think you would do much better to address some pointed remarks, not to politicians of any party, but to Catholic pastors of all stripes.

This is among the more frustrating dynamics that I've found, as a conservative Republican Catholic living in a heavily Catholic blue state. No matter the issues, folks just don't feel right if they vote for a Republican. It is just so... darn... slow to change the gut feeling that the Democrats have so effectively established that they are the good-works party. The fact of the matter is that most people develop their impressions for whatever reason and just vote according to them for long periods of time.

The challenge is not indomitable. If you look at the list of issues in the article that Lane cites — "respect for human life, protecting the institution of marriage, parental choice in education, protecting Social Security, the poor, economic justice, human rights, workers' rights, welfare reform and immigration" — you see that several are clearly Republican positions, while those that might generally be associated with the Democrats are only so because they aren't well understood. That suggests that Catholic leaders must do a better job of educating their brothers and sisters in Christ (which means that they have to better understand the issues themselves).

The trend is certainly in that direction, because it's getting difficult to ignore the disparity between the Democrat line and the Democrat record. Moreover, I've never seen an organized parish Committee for the Protection of Social Security, while pro-life committees abound.

Posted by Justin Katz @ 12:31 AM EST

2 comments

Thanks.

ELC @ 01/03/2004 03:00 PM EST

Not just an issue for catholics, but for protestants as well. There are countless numbers of people living devout faithfilled lives that would define them as the "religious right" to just about anyone, but continue to vote for the Dems because grandpa liked FDR and/or great great great grandpa hated Lincoln (the latter possibly an issue in the south).

:)

mark @ 01/07/2004 04:41 PM EST