McCain Reaches Out to Catholic Voters
July 12th, 2008 at 09:04am Mark Noonan
Quite simply because - outside of the various affinities Catholic voters have for a man like John McCain - winning without the Catholic vote will be nearly impossible:
John McCain is preparing to ramp up his efforts to reach out to Catholic voters with a “very, very aggressive” campaign, spearheaded by the newly created Catholic Outreach Coalition.
Frank Donatelli, the Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, spoke to reporters and Catholic media on a conference call this morning about the efforts that the McCain campaign is planning to reach Catholic voters.
Donatelli described the Catholic Outreach Coalition, chaired by Sen. Sam Brownback and Frank Keating, as “first-rate” and said that it will be “very well-funded.”
McCain’s Catholic campaign will involve literature, sending speakers to parishes and Catholic gatherings, a direct mail program and statements by Sen. McCain on issues of concern to Catholics.
The coalition plans to explain to Catholic voters how McCain is a stalwart opponent of abortion, has a strong appreciation for the social conscience of the world and that he is in favor of an immigration policy that defends the nation’s borders but also is humane in its treatment of illegal immigrants.
Donatelli also mentioned to CNA that the McCain campaign is also actively reaching out to Latinos, a group that historically votes for Democrats and is largely Catholic. Besides the cultural issues that presidential contender is emphasizing with non-Latino Catholics, McCain sees addressing the immigration issue in a humane manner as key to attracting the Hispanic vote.
Meanwhile, Obama’s alleged Catholic outreach guy hides:
Mark Linton, director of Catholic Outreach for the Obama Campaign, refused to appear on a Catholic radio show to explain Obama’s views regarding abortion and address his accusations of supporting infanticide.
The Detroit-based radio show, hosted by Al Kresta, founder of Ave Maria Communications and best-selling Catholic author, wanted to invite both Mark Linton and Deal Hudson, the director of InsideCatholic.com, onto his radio show. Nick Thomm, the producer for Kresta’s show, explained to CNA, “[Linton] is the National Catholic outreach guy and he disagrees with Deal Hudson over the facts surrounding Obama’s record on abortion. So we figured we’d have them both on the show to hash it out.”
Hudson has written several articles questioning Obama’s stance on abortion and infanticide due to his refusal to pass the Born Alive Infant Protect Act in the Illinois Senate. Linton responded on July 4 by sending out an email criticizing Hudson and attempting to clarify Obama’s abortion position.
After successfully contacting Hudson, Thomm was unable to find a contact number for Linton on the party’s website. When he contacted Obama’s Senate office, he told that they couldn’t give out Linton’s phone number and that he would have to send Linton an email.
After sending Linton an email on Monday afternoon and another Tuesday morning, Thomm called Senator Obama’s office once again to try and reach Linton in time for Kresta’s 4 p.m. (ET) radio show.
Thomm explained that when he called Obama’s senate office he told the Obama staffer, “we have no choice but to think that he’s trying dodge us. He’s supposed to be a National Catholic Outreach coordinator and we’re a Catholic radio show, so who’s he doing outreach to?”
“We never heard back from him and so we just went ahead and did the show without him,” said Thomm.
CNA also tried to contact Linton to discuss Obama’s abortion record and the missed radio debate, but calls and emails were not returned.
Compare and contrast - McCain’s willingness to stake out firm positions with Obama’s unwilingess to ever get into a tight spot.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Democrats, Religion, Republicans
10 Comments Add your own
1. neocon | July 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Add this to Obamas reluctance to do the townhall debates and what you have is an inexperienced candidate being protected inside his handlers bubble.
I believe Hillary is working feverishly behind the scenes for one last chance at the nomination. There will be fireworks in Denver this summer.
Pass the popcorn.
peace, neocon
2. tom Thumb | July 12th, 2008 at 9:25 am
McCain’s spiritual mentor hates Catholics.
Good luck with that.
3. Mark Noonan | July 12th, 2008 at 9:39 am
tom,
How can you stand to be either that entirely ignorant, or that willing a liar?
4. Mark Noonan | July 12th, 2008 at 9:40 am
neocon,
I’ve heard rumors…
5. Pain | July 12th, 2008 at 9:41 am
1. neocon | July 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am
For once you are right, neocon. There will be fireworks in Denver at Invesco field right after Barack Hussein Obama accepts the nomination before an overflow crowd of 80 000 cheering supporters! We hear Zambelli will be providing the works.
And who will have the honor of introducing him? None other than the Big Dog himself William Jefferson Clinton.
6. TampaBayRayz-4-evah-don't-mess | July 12th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Mark: I’m from NYC where there are all religions — but the big one — the White SBC.
You grow up in NYC knowing the nuanaces of High Church White Protestantism, Black Baptists and AME, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, NOI, Chinese Buddhism and all secular variants including Atheism.
Those votes tend to split in ways peculiar to geographical area and which issues the respective voters find most important and how those voters’ issues dovetail with the platforms, rhetoric and parties of the candidates.
There are actually only two religions in NYC: the Yankees and the Mets.
We both know how self-identified voters of all of thse religions and their subsets will vote. McCain can do all the “outreach” he wants but the Catholic vote is still going to split 50-50, McCain gets those who identify abortion as a key issue. Obama will get those who identify as neutral on abortion and anti-war. They fight over the handful that remain.
The “Catholic” vote has been a bit of a mine-field for both candidates when it really shouldn’t have been. They’ll cut it up 50-50 between them and fight the more crucial battles in other segments.
7. Mark Noonan | July 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Tampa,
Not exactly - because the swing part of the Catholic vote is Catholics who attend Mass regularly…that was the vote which went majority for Gore in 2000 and majority fo Bush in 2004 and which both McCain and Obama very much want in 2008. A very large portion of Bush’s victory margin in 2004 was the fact that devout Catholics swung over to him from 2000 and, indeed, there is a good argument to be made that without this swing, Ohio - and the White House - would have been lost.
Non-devout Catholics vote pretty much like non-devout Protestants - and thus Obama pretty much has them in the bag…but devout Catholics are a more tricky matter…yep, we’re very interested in a lot of social issues…help the poor, ya know? But with devout Catholics you can’t for a moment think that abortion doesn’t ride very high…I know you can find a lot of Catholic voices who will say they don’t hold abortion to be as big an issue as, say, feeding the hungry…but in trying to win the devout, it matters a great deal. Trust me on this one - the anti-war Catholic could very well vote for McCain on the Culture of Life vs culture of death issue (which, by the way, the abortion issue is only a party).
8. TampaBayRayz-4-evah-don't-mess | July 13th, 2008 at 3:59 am
Mark: It’s as silly actually for me to tell you what Catholics think as it would be for you to tell me what Jews think. Of course, I trust you on this one.
Abortion is press-shorthand for “Catholic issues”. Israel is press-shorthand for “Jewish issues.”
My point was that it’s a lot more complex than that. But 50% of American Catholic voters having abortion as the key issue is a large figure, no matter what, considering, how much smaller the figure is in so many officially and notionally Catholic countries in the rest of the world.
I don’t doubt your perception or your sincerity, but if 50% of 40mm people feel a certain way, it can feel an awful lot like 100% on the ground.
9. test » Blog Archive&hellip | July 13th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
[…] Denny Burk wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMark Linton, director of Catholic Outreach for the Obama Campaign, refused to appear on a Catholic radio show to explain Obama’s views regarding abortion and address his accusations of supporting infanticide. … Read the rest of this great post here […]
10. Katherine | July 15th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
McCain Campaign Creates Firestorm by Sending ‘Dissenter’ to Speak to Catholics
The McCain campaign created a firestorm by arranging for a conference call with conservative Catholic reporters that had Frank Donatelli, the Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, announcing the campaign’s Catholic outreach plans. Donatelli, contrary to many of the self-described “orthodox’ Catholic reporters, believes that supporting a pro-choice candidate is possible for a faithful Catholic.
Sending in a man who is a “dissenter” in the minds of these reporters as well as by the standards set by the editorial policies of their publications was a major “faux pas” by the McCain campaign. In Donatelli’s case, this is not just a matter of theory. Donatelli claims to be a Catholic but has supported pro-abortion rights candidates on more than a dozen occasions.
Calls to both the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have gone unreturned, indicating their shame over this potential disaster in their attempt to reach out to conservative Catholics.
The McCain campaign has stumbled several times in attempts to reach out to Catholics. Unlike Senator Obama, McCain seems uncomfortable speaking about his faith and even had problems indicating what denomination he belonged to. He accepted and then rejected the endorsement of an anti-Catholic minister and has done few events to reach out to Catholic voters. The Obama campaign has a Catholic Advisory Committee that meets weekly, a full time Catholic Outreach Director and several devout Catholics working to win over Catholic votes including former Congressman Tim Roemer of Indiana.
Conservative Catholics have had difficulties winning over mainstream Catholic voters to McCain because of such issues as Iraq, justice for the poor and the rights of workers to join unions. McCain’s support for ESCR and allowing the states to decide about gay marriage has not pleased conservative Catholics.
Conservative political operatives have therefore banked on the issue of telling pro-life Catholics they must vote on the abortion issue only and to do otherwise is a sin (currently half of Catholics and one-third of pro-lifers say they plan to vote for Obama). This strategy was not helped by putting Frank Donatelli forward to announce McCain’s Catholic outreach plans.
With one of the highest political operatives in the McCain campaign a Catholic who believes Catholics can support pro-abortion candidates, it is hard to see how this firestorm can be put out.
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