Deal Hudson writes an open letter to Prof. Doug Kmiec, a prominent Catholic who has endorsed Obama:
…Abortion, infanticide, and marriage — Obama’s positions on these issues alone make it impossible for me to support him. McCain, on the other hand, is reliable. His position on embryonic stem cells does not create equivalence between him and Obama on the life issue – the difference between the two candidates on life and marriage is stark.
I have noted, of course, your concern about the Iraq War. You argue that Catholic voters should reevaluate their support for President Bush, the GOP, and John McCain because of the war. You have come close to saying, but not quite, that support for the invasion and occupation of Iraq weakens any claim that Bush, McCain, or the GOP are closer to Catholic social teaching than the Democrats or Obama.
On this, once again, I cannot agree. President Bush has been the most committed pro-life president since Roe v. Wade. The abortion rate in the United States is at its lowest since 1974. The achievement of Bush and the GOP controlled Congress in limiting abortion cannot be offset by the Iraq War.
Whatever you think of the war, it is within the prudential prerogative of the president and the Congress, according to Church teaching, to make this decision (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2309). At the time of the invasion, Democrats as well as Republicans supported it.
There is no official Catholic position for or against the Iraq War…
…Some Catholics have argued that if Obama and McCain were compared on prudential matters only – health care, poverty, minimum wage, energy, taxes, immigration, national security, war & peace – Obama would be their choice. If Obama and McCain held exactly the same positions on abortion and marriage, I would still opt for McCain on prudential grounds, but that is not, I believe, where the argument lies.
The argument between us is about those positions the Church has taught should not be compromised by our political judgment. In all that you have written and said, I still have not found a compelling reason that justifies your public support for Barack Obama.
Much is made in Democratic attempts to woo Catholic voters about how Democrats care about the poor and in keeping with the “seamless garment” urged by the US Bishops on such matters, the fact of Democratic support for abortion rights pales in comparison to an alleged GOP disdain for the poor. This is an arguable point, but my contention is that the social spending Democrats wish to apply to poverty actually deepens poverty - it takes the suffering poor and makes them the parasitic, suffering poor. A brother or sister who needs a hand is magically transformed by the welfare State into a shiftless leech.
Given the failure of the Democrats’ poverty plans to actually alleviate poverty, we’re left then with the Democrats views on abortion, marriage and infanticide - without a counterbalancing reality of helping the poor, the evil of Democratic support for the Culture of Death is just that much more stark, and Obama’s fawning devotion to the most extreme of pro-abortion positions makes it impossible for me, as a Catholic, to ever consider casting a vote for him. It doesn’t at all surprise me that many Catholic Democrats are backing Obama - these are the same Catholics who yammer on about women priests, married priests, birth control and other positions in direct opposition to Church teaching. Its expected - but what wasn’t ever expected was someone like Kmiec falling for the Obama delusion.
In the end we all must do what we think is best - I hope that Kmiec has thought this through carefully and that his decision is based entirely upon his convictions about what is best for society in accordance with Church teaching. My conscience, instructed by our mutual faith, leads me to a very different conclusion, and I do wonder if any Catholic who fully considers everything in relation to the whole can really justify a vote for Obama.
Tags: Barack Obama, Catholic Vote, John McCain
July 15th, 2008
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.
Tags: Barack Obama, Catholic Vote, John McCain
July 12th, 2008
…Oh Where, Oh Where Can They Be?
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments today on Sen. Barack Obama’s Catholic National Advisory Council:
“On May 2, I issued a news release calling on Sen. Obama to dissolve his Catholic National Advisory Council. My principal reason for doing so was his selection of dissident Catholics to advise him: for example, most of the public officials are so pro-abortion that they had a 100 percent NARAL record. On May 8, most members of the Advisory Council faxed me a letter defending themselves; I answered the same day taking them to task for their lame defense. But it now appears that my initial recommendation—to dissolve the group—may have been accepted.
“There is no mention anywhere on the Obama website of the Catholic National Advisory Council. On Friday, we placed three phone calls to his campaign: two to media relations and one to Mark Linton, Obama’s National Catholic Outreach Coordinator. We were told each time that someone would get back to us, but no one did. I then personally e-mailed Linton informing him of the three phone calls, requesting that he respond to my question: ‘I would like to know whether the Catholic National Advisory Council for Sen. Obama is still operative.’ He has not replied.
“It would appear, then, that the group no longer exists. It is not hard to understand why. After being criticized by the Catholic League, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City rebuked one of Obama’s Catholic advisors, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius: she was instructed not to present herself for Holy Communion (she is a rabid defender of abortion). At about the same time, radical Chicago priest Rev. Michael Pfleger bailed on Obama by withdrawing his name from the Advisory Council. Now we find that there is no listing for the group on the Obama website.
“Looks like the Obama campaign’s decision to quietly drop its Advisory Council didn’t work. We found out, and we’ve never been accused of being quiet.”
Of all the varied frauds in political history, none was quite so absurd as Obama’s attempt to make it appear that he had some Catholic support for the fall campaign. Catholics are about 27% of the American electorate, and they went 52%/47% for Bush in 2004 - but that doesn’t tell the whole story, as practising Catholics (ie, those who attend Mass weekly or more often) went 56% for Bush, and gave him about 1.7 million more votes than Kerry just from this demographic: that is more than 50% of Bush’s winning margin, and in Ohio and Florida the surge of Catholic votes for Bush pretty much made the difference between victory and defeat, and thus was instrumental in giving President Bush a second term. Obama would very much like to get back to Gore’s 2000 performance amongst practising Catholics, when a majority of them went for him over Bush. And so - have a Catholic outreach group and make like you give a damn about the concerns of practising Catholics.
The trouble is that there is a dearth of Democratic Catholics who can in any way, shape or form appeal to a majority of practising Catholics. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania might have a shot at it, but Ted Kennedy? Not a chance - and when the Democratic governor of Kansas was called to account, it just made the issue all the more stark; there are Catholics, and then there are Catholics…and if you want the vote of people who take the Catholic faith seriously, then you’re going to have to drop pro-abortion fanaticism as well as a host of other leftwing desires from your program. In the end, the circle couldn’t be squared and while I suspect there will be some minor and rather creaky attempt to have a “Catholics for Obama” officially in existence, we can really just write off this attempt on the part of Obama to expand beyond his extremist, leftwing political base.
Meanwhile, McCain enjoys the support of quite a number of solid Catholics. Wonder who will win the majority of Catholic votes in November?
Tags: Barack Obama, Catholic Vote, Catholicism, John McCain
June 12th, 2008
Interesting report on a Pew Survey:
In a profile of America’s Catholic population, released in advance of Pope Benedict’s visit to the US, the Pew Forum calls attention to a demographic shift, with younger Catholics less likely to remain active in the Church, while Hispanic immigrants replace many of the “cradle Catholics” who no longer practice the faith.
“No other major faith in the U.S. has experienced greater net losses over the last few decades as a result of changes in religious affiliation than the Catholic Church,” the Pew report notes. Citing the extensive survey undertaken for the “Religious Landscape Survey” that was released earlier this month, the Pew Forum explains that “roughly one-third of those who were raised Catholic have left the church, and approximately one-in-ten American adults are former Catholics.”
Only 41% of self-identified adult Catholics attend Mass each week, the Pew study found. That number is lowest among young adults, with just 30% of Catholics aged 18- 29 attending Mass weekly (by comparison, the figure is 63% among those over the age of 65)– a figure that suggests still greater decline in the number of active Catholics in coming years.
Despite the wholesale exodus of “cradle Catholics,” the Catholic proportion of America’s overall population has remains constant, thanks to the large number of Catholic immigrants, primarily from Mexico. Hispanics now account for 29% of the Catholics in the US, and nearly half of those under the age of 40.
The Pew profile confirm that Catholics compose a crucial political constituency. But the survey also shows a sharp distinction between the Catholics who attend Mass regularly and those who are not active. Thus for example, among Catholics who attend Mass weekly, 60% say that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances; among those who do not go to Mass regularly the figure is 29%.
From my experience as a Catholic, that would all be correct - that there has been a major loss in the number of Catholics and that there is a major split between devout Catholics and more nominal Catholics (humorously, but also quite seriously, our Pastor reminded the extra large congregation on Easter Sunday that we do, indeed, do this every week and everyone is welcome to attend on a regular basis).
As for American politics, this makes for a tricky task for the parties- Catholics are a major voting bloc but there are Catholics, and then there are Catholics, as it were. In some areas, Catholics are not too different from the dying, mainline Protestant denominations - weak in theology and thus liberal/left in viewpoint. Elsewhere, Catholics are as enthused as one can wish for the faith. So, which Catholics to you want? You can run as a lefty and gain Catholic votes; you can run as a conservative and gain Catholic votes. Not only that, you can run as a lefty and even get some consevative Catholic votes - mostly in the hispanic community…but, even then, it depends on just how you run your lefty campaign (hint: don’t emphasize lefty views on gay marriage and abortion when you are speaking to the congregation at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Albuquerque, NM…not that they won’t love you and be nice, but it might not be the best means of getting an enthusiastic voting response). For both parties, it will be a question of how to maximise Catholic turnout in their favor.
As it stands, the GOP holds the advantage here - but not entirely. Hispanic voters are likely to vote Democrat on economic issues, as poor immigrants and their immediate descendents have done since time out of mind in America, but they can also be poached by a well run GOP outreach program. Hispanic Catholics aside, the divisions between Catholics, left and right, give each party a shot at the prize, but even the most liberal Catholic can listen favorably to a conservative message, and vice versa (Catholics are hard to pin down…most simply will not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, but quite a few will vote for an otherwise big spending liberal who is either nominally pro-life, or very much downplays his pro-choice views; meanwhile, most Catholics are not thrilled with rich, corporate boss-types, but will listen to a message from such if that person emphasizes his desire for an end to abortion plus, say, tuition tax credits for primary education). It will be interesting to see how each party squares the circle, and which one comes out with the majority of Catholic votes - and thus, very likely, the White House.
Tags: Catholic Church, Catholic Vote
March 30th, 2008
