Spiritual Politics

In West Virginia, Obama did better with Catholics--white Catholics--(45 percent) than he did with any other demographic, secular or religious, including voters aged 18-24 (38 percent), and including those with no religion (34 percent). Figure that sucker out. (For the record, there are not enough African Americans in the state to register on an exit poll.)

Morning Update: Altogether, Catholics constitute less than six percent of the WV population, but represented eight percent of Democratic primary voters. Their greatest concentration is up in the panhandle, where WV is squeezed between PA and OH. Ohio County, where Wheeling is located, is nearly 40 percent Catholic--by far the largest Catholic concentration in the state. There, Clinton won by a 58-36 margin, 19 percentage points less than her 67-26 spread statewide. So apparently it's the old Catholic steelworker families that were the base of such support as Obama got in the Mountain State. (Clinton got just 52 percent of the Catholic vote.)

Posted by Mark Silk at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

E.J. Dionne and Steve Waldman are both in the field today with solutions to Obama's "Catholic Problem." The problem, and they're both sort of aware of it, is that the nature and extent of the problem is not very clear. Yes, Obama had a discernible problem with white Catholics (as opposed to white Protestants) in PA. But not in Ohio. And anyway, the real issue is likely to be not how Obama does with Catholics vis-a-vis Clinton, but vis-a-vis McCain. Latino Catholics have always been dependable Democratic voters, and the fact that they have heavily favored Clinton over Obama doesn't mean that they will cross over and support McCain in the general election. I expect more will vote for McCain than would have for, say, Mitt Romney. But not many more.

Waldman thinks Obama should be more pro-life-friendly. Dionne thinks Obama should be grittier, more nuts-and-bolts. I think it mostly comes down to Pennsylvania and Ohio. For the Catholics (and white Protestants he needs), he should make the popular (Methodist) governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, his running mate. Strickland ran a brialliant campaign in 2006, and should be able to do the necessary thing for Obama in 2008. As for Pennsylvania, well, I wouldn't omit prayer.

Posted by Mark Silk at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Pope Benedict XVI visited the White House today. On 81st birthday, His Holiness with was regaled with "Happy Birthday" by an enthusiastic crowd. President Bush welcomed the Pope to an America where "hearts are open to your message of hope." His Holiness reciprocated the warm greeting and praised the United States for its rich history of "noble principles".

Posted by Reid Vineis at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to today's Washington Post-ABC News poll, 62 percent of American Catholics think the Catholic church is out of touch "with the views of Catholics in America today." That's the same number as expressed that view back in October of 2003, in the midst of the pedophile coverup crisis. Then, 64 percent of American Catholics said that the pope should change church policies "to reflect the attitudes and lifestyles of Catholics today." Today, however, by a margin of 50 percent to 45 percent, they think the pope "should maintain the traditional policies of the Church." So American Catholics want to belong to an out-of-touch Church, right?

Posted by Mark Silk at 05:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)