Catholics in US Politics
A virtual non-issue in the 2008 campaign was the election of a Catholic in the White House, as Vice President elect Joe Bidden is a practicing Catholic. There was a time when the religion would have been a national issue, but even when John Kerry ran for President the religion was only relevant on its own terms (should he receive communion for his political stances) rather than a political representation of the Vatican in US politics.
The chain of White House Catholicism from JFK to Joe Bidden made me wonder about the breakdown of Catholic politicians by party. A quarter of the US is Catholic and the Congress now has roughly a similar percentage of Catholics. The Catholic News Service reports the 110th Congress will have 162 Catholics; 98 Democrats and 38 Republicans in the House, 17 Democrats and 9 Republicans in the Senate. That amounts to the Catholic politicians being about 71% Democrat and about 29% Republican.
This begs the question of how the Catholic population affiliates itself, Democrat or Republican? A Pew Research Center 2008 study shows a current advantage for Democrat inclination, 49% vs. 40%, but just 4 years prior 47% Republican vs. 45% Democrat, with another flop 8 years and then 16 years prior. In other words, Catholics fall where they will between the parties, without a strong trend towards affiliation with either. In contrast the same study found the last three elections Catholics favored the Democratic ticket (47% vs. 42% in 2008, 54% vs. 42% in 2004, and 51% vs. 40% in 2000).
Taken together these statistics suggest that while there is not a predominant inclination for Catholics to identify with either party, voting for Presidents and politicians running for office perform much better among Catholics if they are Democrats. I cannot help but draw the conclusion that the difference is in the current platforms of the two parties and which currently better represents the interests of Catholics.
One might believe that the congregation of the storied Catholic church falls in line with moral values of the ilk proffered by the Religious Right. Abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research all have clear teachings from the Vatican - yet Catholics vote for Democrats instead of Republicans. There can be any number of explanations (including the tendency of the Catholic vote to largely fall in line with the population at large and the tendency of Catholics in the US to vote on economic or other matters than the religious views). Assuming there are trends to the Catholic subpopulation, I looked to the Catholic Bishops of the United States' Faithful Citizenship guide to see how the Church might help shape Catholic voting behaviors. It includes a four prong approach; human life, family life, social justice, and global solidarity. respecting human life opposes abortions and stem cell research, but also opposes genocide and torture, calls for supporting the sick and dying, working to avoid wars and increase peace, decrease the spread of indiscriminate military weaponry, and opposes the death penalty. Respecting family life opposes gay marriage and contraceptives, but also calls for educational opportunities for all and responsible regulations of the media and the Internet. Respecting social justice calls for economic opportunity for all, just wages, welfare policies, affordable healthcare and housing, a just court system, open policies for all immigrants, and addressing global climate change. Respecting global solidarity calls for charity towards other nations, international cooperation, asylum for refugees, and leadership in conflict resolution.
There are of course a lot of variables and the complexity of religion and politics assures uncertainty. However, it appears to me that US Catholics vote on issues other than the ones commonly represented by the media as relevant and represented better by the Republican platform (abortion, gay marriage), instead Catholics vote for Democrats (living wage, healthcare). This is not counterintuitive to myself, as a Catholic, but I wonder about the prevailing perceptions of others. Also, there is nothing in any of this to prevent a swing in the other direction should either party find itself representing more of the issues that Catholics might find relevant in US politics (ending wars, creating jobs). My impression is this group votes on issues rather than parties. I also make the leap in believing the opinions on these issues are partially formed by the shared Catholic faith.
The chain of White House Catholicism from JFK to Joe Bidden made me wonder about the breakdown of Catholic politicians by party. A quarter of the US is Catholic and the Congress now has roughly a similar percentage of Catholics. The Catholic News Service reports the 110th Congress will have 162 Catholics; 98 Democrats and 38 Republicans in the House, 17 Democrats and 9 Republicans in the Senate. That amounts to the Catholic politicians being about 71% Democrat and about 29% Republican.
This begs the question of how the Catholic population affiliates itself, Democrat or Republican? A Pew Research Center 2008 study shows a current advantage for Democrat inclination, 49% vs. 40%, but just 4 years prior 47% Republican vs. 45% Democrat, with another flop 8 years and then 16 years prior. In other words, Catholics fall where they will between the parties, without a strong trend towards affiliation with either. In contrast the same study found the last three elections Catholics favored the Democratic ticket (47% vs. 42% in 2008, 54% vs. 42% in 2004, and 51% vs. 40% in 2000).
Taken together these statistics suggest that while there is not a predominant inclination for Catholics to identify with either party, voting for Presidents and politicians running for office perform much better among Catholics if they are Democrats. I cannot help but draw the conclusion that the difference is in the current platforms of the two parties and which currently better represents the interests of Catholics.
One might believe that the congregation of the storied Catholic church falls in line with moral values of the ilk proffered by the Religious Right. Abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research all have clear teachings from the Vatican - yet Catholics vote for Democrats instead of Republicans. There can be any number of explanations (including the tendency of the Catholic vote to largely fall in line with the population at large and the tendency of Catholics in the US to vote on economic or other matters than the religious views). Assuming there are trends to the Catholic subpopulation, I looked to the Catholic Bishops of the United States' Faithful Citizenship guide to see how the Church might help shape Catholic voting behaviors. It includes a four prong approach; human life, family life, social justice, and global solidarity. respecting human life opposes abortions and stem cell research, but also opposes genocide and torture, calls for supporting the sick and dying, working to avoid wars and increase peace, decrease the spread of indiscriminate military weaponry, and opposes the death penalty. Respecting family life opposes gay marriage and contraceptives, but also calls for educational opportunities for all and responsible regulations of the media and the Internet. Respecting social justice calls for economic opportunity for all, just wages, welfare policies, affordable healthcare and housing, a just court system, open policies for all immigrants, and addressing global climate change. Respecting global solidarity calls for charity towards other nations, international cooperation, asylum for refugees, and leadership in conflict resolution.
There are of course a lot of variables and the complexity of religion and politics assures uncertainty. However, it appears to me that US Catholics vote on issues other than the ones commonly represented by the media as relevant and represented better by the Republican platform (abortion, gay marriage), instead Catholics vote for Democrats (living wage, healthcare). This is not counterintuitive to myself, as a Catholic, but I wonder about the prevailing perceptions of others. Also, there is nothing in any of this to prevent a swing in the other direction should either party find itself representing more of the issues that Catholics might find relevant in US politics (ending wars, creating jobs). My impression is this group votes on issues rather than parties. I also make the leap in believing the opinions on these issues are partially formed by the shared Catholic faith.
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