“And as far as I can tell, pretty much no Republicans claim to be concerned about poverty, which Catholics (in tune with the Gospels, incidentally) are concerned about.”
You haven’t heard any pubs talking about how their policies really help the poor while the liberal ‘crats policies assure poverty? The welfare state locks folks into poverty and subverts the role of the Church, like most things gubberment is involved with. The “war on poverty” is just a phrase that does the opposite of what it implies.
Freegards
Yes. You know that and I know that. Sadly, numerous well-meaning voters take the respective ads and self-descriptions of the parties at their word, i.e., Dems care about the poor and Repubs don't. If the Republicans aren't going to explain the facts, who is? Certainly not the Dems -- the current state of ignorance works fine for them! Certainly not the MSM, many of whom probably believe it themselves.