Will Catholics Vote for Him a Second Time?

The 2012 Presidential Election: Just How Influential is the Catholic Vote?

Given Obama’s personal hostility toward the pro-life movement and his administration’s bias against Catholic values and beliefs—as evidenced by recent HHS health care mandates and the imposition of his secular agenda upon religious institutions or their affiliates—I wondered aloud in my recent column “ObamaCare Abortions: Will Catholics Vote for Him a Second Time?” (CFP, February 4, 2012) How we, as Catholics, will respond the second time around.

Until I researched the matter further, I did not fully appreciate how important this question actually is and how influential we as a voting bloc are when it comes to electing presidents. In fact, Catholics may well be the most influential voting bloc in the country, certainly the most centrist and, as it turns out, we are a bellwether group of voters whose importance cannot be underestimated. Whether and how we vote has determined the course of many recent presidential elections and how we vote is more than an academic issue—it may well determine the moral path that this country takes for years hence.

Having researched many exit polls, many newspaper polls, sources as widely disparate as the Pew Research Group, Wall Street Journal, Christian anti Defamation League, CNN polls, Washington Post and the official United States Presidential 2008 Election results, I was amazed at not only how influential Catholics are when it comes to voting, but at how frequently Catholics as a group mirror the outcome of the election. Put simply: how we vote, nine times out of ten, matches precisely, who wins the contest. So if you think your Catholic values and your Catholic vote means little, guess again. 

Consider this:

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE 2008:
OBAMA 69,456,897
MCCAIN 59,934,814

OR, 129,391,711 TOTAL VOTES BETWEEN THEM

• IN 4 OF THE LAST 5 ELECTIONS, AND 9 OUT OF THE LAST 10 ELECTIONS THE PERSON WHO WON THE CATHOLIC VOTE ALSO WON THE PRESIDENCY
• WE COMPRISE 27% OF THOSE VOTING IN LAST TWO ELECTIONS
• ACCORDINGLY, OF THE 129,391,711 WHO VOTED IN 2008 FOR THE ABOVE, 27%—OR 34,935,761—WERE CATHOLIC
• OBAMA WON THE CATHOLIC VOTE BY 9 %, (54+% vs 45+%) SO HE RECEIVED BETWEEN 19,000,000 AND 20,000,000 CATHOLIC VOTES AND MCCAIN RECEIVED BETWEEN 15,000,000 AND 16,000,000 CATHOLIC VOTES

Therefore, if you simply switched these numbers around, the 2008 Presidential Election popular vote is much closer and might well have had a great influence in the Electoral College. Of course, all that does not matter now. However, what does matter is this: We as Catholics are a huge and most influential voting bloc. It may easily be said that how we vote in presidential elections may well decide the outcome and, in any event, how we vote, coincidentally, usually matches the end result. Put simply, the candidate who wins the Catholic vote usually also wins the election.

Perhaps we elected Barack Obama in 2008. Whether we do so again—and it is your choice entirely—remains to be seen. The question: Will Catholics Vote for Him a Second Time? will certainly be answered this fall. And the answer will have a profound impact on the future of our country, our freedoms, and the fundamental relationship between the government and the people.

Copyright © 2012 William Kevin Stoos
William Kevin Stoos (aka Hugh Betcha) is a writer, book reviewer, and attorney, whose feature and cover articles have appeared in the Liguorian, Carmelite Digest, Catholic Digest, Catholic Medical Association Ethics Journal, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Liberty Magazine, Social Justice Review, Wall Street Journal Online and other secular and religious publications.  He is a regular contributing author for The Bread of Life Magazine in Canada. His review of Shadow World, by COL. Robert Chandler, propelled that book to best seller status. His book, The Woodcarver (And Other Stories of Faith and Inspiration) © 2009, William Kevin Stoos (Strategic Publishing Company)—a collection of feature and cover stories on matters of faith—was released in July of 2009. It can be purchased though many internet booksellers including Amazon, Tower, Barnes and Noble and others. Royalties from his writings go to support the Carmelites. He resides in Wynstone, South Dakota.

“His newest book, The Wind and the Spirit (Stories of Faith and Inspiration)” © 2011, is scheduled for release in the summer of 2011. All the author’s royalties go to support the Carmelite sisters.”