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.
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