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I was the first Republican in my labor-union Democrat family when I was about 17. The older members of the family followed thereafter because of the moral issues. they will never be comfortable with the union-bashing or the tax cuts for the wealthiest above all else, but they do recognize that we must place first things first. Catholics are no longer the Demonratic Party at prayer.

Guns are important too and so are taxes on the American of ordinary income. We don't send our kids to public schools but we despise what public schools do to other people's kids and through them to our society.

Catholics who attend Church at least weekly are much more likely to vote Republican as revealed by poll after poll. Our pastors are more and more likely to urge us to vote against the Demonrats. Sure, there is a residual rump caucus of aging activist "Peace and Justice" Kumbayas but the good news on them is each day's obituary page.

We are very good allies to have because of that stubbornness. It would help if Rome would appoint bishops more inclined to our pre-Vatican II separatism not because it is not good to have alliances with non-Catholics but because we Catholics must charge our Catholic batteries to maximize the strength and consensus that we can and must bring to the alliance with others. Be patient with us. We're worth waiting for. When we move against the anti-Catholic Catholics like Kerry, Durbin, Leahy, Mikulski, et al., there will be no turning back. Keep an eye on Archbishop Chaput of Denver. He would make a superb cardinal. He is a warrior Capuchin.

As to cafeteria Catholics, they are no more Catholic than those who despise and reject Scripture can claim to be Protestant. Ancestry is not determinative.

Union members are not robots for labor leaders. It is not right to exclude them simply because they look out for their own economic interests any more than we should reject the industrialist for improving his profit. The capital of the labor union member is his or her labor and he or she has the same right to maximize profit as anyone else. Until the Depression, a lot of labor union members, including many leaders, were openly and proudly Republican. It is also true that, as Reagan used to say, we did not abandon the Democrats. They abandoned us. So be it! p> God bless you and yours.

I believe that you have the instinct that Catholics are not going to move suddenly rightward at the voting booth and you are probably right about that but we are moving and we tend to be a verrrrrrrry stubborn lot. Once we move, we stay moved for a verrrrrry long time unless and until new reasons make for a slow change in momentum. Also, there is more and more momentum towards the GOP.

Our archbishop wrote to all in his parish publicly and told them it was anti-Church and anti-life to vote Democrat. 'My' bishop told anyone who joined a pro-abortion or pro-gay group to consider themselves excommunicated. We were one of the three all-Red Bush states in 2000.

RCs registered as Dims have declined in the last few decades according to my voter lists. Now they are far more likely to be Republicans with only a few holdouts, mostly because Mama and Papa were FDR Democrats and they can't bear to change. But, as you observe, that generation is passing.

If your bishops are serious, it can have a powerful impact, especially a moral challenge that is strong enough to get them to switch parties because the Dims are so blatantly anti-Christian. Even our single U.S. senator who is a Dim is generally recognized as one of the most conservative Dims (though not enough for me). Maybe along the lines of Lieberman. But then, anyone is conservative compared to the rest of the Dims.