Posted on 03/04/2012 4:44:49 PM PST by SeekAndFind
(RNS) Mitt Romney has trounced Rick Santorum, an ardent Catholic, among Catholic voters, but Romney's support among evangelicals has wavered thus far in the GOP presidential primary, according to a new analysis of exit poll data.
Though he won evangelicals in two states, in general Romney has performed 15 percentage points better among non-evangelicals, according to an analysis released Friday (March 2) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Exit poll data is available in seven of the 11 states that have held primary contests to date, according to the Pew Forum. More detailed religious affiliations are available in six of those states.
White evangelicals formed more than a third of all GOP primary voters in each state except for Nevada (24 percent) and New Hampshire (21 percent). Romney, a Mormon, won the evangelical vote in those two states, and nearly tied for first in Arizona and Florida. But he lost the evangelical vote badly in three states: Michigan, Iowa and South Carolina.
Somewhat surprisingly, Santorum has not won the Catholic vote in a single state in which data is available, according to the Pew Forum.
Romney won the Catholic vote by at least 25 points in Florida, New Hampshire and Nevada. Romney also won 47 percent of the Catholic vote in Arizona, compared to Santorum's 33 percent. In Michigan, Romney bested Santorum among Catholics 44 to 37 percent.
Santorum has spoken far more about his faith during the campaign, while Romney has largely been mum on his Mormonism.
According to numerous separate polls, a significant minority of GOP voters, especially evangelicals, remain reluctant to vote for a Mormon president. Most Mainline Protestants and Catholics do not display the same aversion.
Romney, who has won more primary elections and delegates than any other GOP candidate, also won the Protestant vote in three states: New Hampshire, Nevada and Arizona.
However, the Pew Forum notes that Romney's success among Protestants in Nevada and Arizona is boosted by their large Mormon populations. (The Pew Forum does not typically consider Mormons Protestant, but exit polls often do.) Romney won 88 percent of the Mormon vote in Nevada and 96 percent in Arizona.
Texas congressman Ron Paul has performed the best among religiously unaffiliated voters in the two states -- Nevada and New Hampshire -- where they participated in large enough numbers to be analyzed.
As Romney inches toward the nomination, the media will start exposing the cult of Mormonism more and more. I can’t vote for Romney because he is a liberal, but his Mormonism has much to do with my decision also.
Santorum was endorsed by an Evangelical group, and I’d suspect that most of his voters are among that group, who are well-intentioned but too trusting.
Catholics, even very conservative ones, don’t seem to like him that much. For one thing, every parish has somebody like him: the scornful, prissy “homeschooling dad” who looks down on everybody around him and keeps his family under some wierd control (ever seen a picture of him and all of his slope-shouldered sons in their matching sweater vests???).
It’s got to be his invisible wife who does the actual homeschooling, btw, even though he stole the services from the State of Pennsylvania and got them to pay a $50,000 fine on his behalf.
And if he’s such a great Catholic, why aren’t his kids going to Catholic school instead of getting the State of PA curriculum?
Sorry, but I’m a very conservative Catholic, and I think he’s just an ambitious hypocrite with a vicious streak.
Liberal Modernist Catholics, who are a big block, nearly a majority and are not real Catholics, don't like him.
Traditional and conservative Catholics, who worship like he does and believe as he does, pretty much all support him, even if they haven't made up their mind on the vote (it's a complicated subject -- Gingrich has some things going for him also even if his personal life isn't exemplary).
Romney has boots on the ground in every state, Santorum doesn't. Santorum's fade is only a matter of time.
I guess you’re the exception. Around here we like the guy.
“The Catholic Vote” doesn’t exist. Any sociologist-demographer with half a brain knows that. When it’s convenient, lefties like this author consider Pelosi and her ilk Catholic, even though she has openly defied every Catholic belief imaginable and has been, in effect, told not to present herself for Communion.
Romney is winning the white suburban “Catholics” who are about as Catholic as my dog is Catholic.
And FRingrich supporters eat this crap up because it suits their meme.
The exit polls in Michigan showed that Romney won the wealthy, suburban non-Evangelicals, which includes “Catholic-lites.” Since the stoooooopppppiddd pollsters couldn’t be bothered to distinguish between “Catholics in name only” and weekly Mass-goers, we don’t have the stats we need. But Santorum is winning the Catholic vote that counts—the Reagan democrat blue-collar, petty-bourgeois, the ones who weren’t already in the Republican camp. Romney’s winning the ones who will end up voting for Obama anyway.
But who cares? Fringrichers are eager for Romney to win anyway. So they’ll get what they want: Obama for four more years when Romney does an epic FAIL.
Sheesh. Who won the “Catholic vote” in 2008? Obama.
“The Catholic vote,” unless broken down between committed Catholics and CINOs is a meaningless concept.
Well, no offense to any devout Catholics here, but from what I can tell, most Catholics are only nominally so, much like most Jews in the US live almost totally secularly and vote that way as well. Why do Catholics and Jews vote in general elections for the democrat party, which opposes many of the tenets of their faiths? Just look at what goes on with Mardi Gras and Lent. Those folks are probably all in for “contraceptive rights”.
I don’t think appealing to Protestants, whom of many view Catholics to also be part of a cult, will serve your purposes very well. You’re niche is getting smaller.
Catholics, ever since Vatican II and the shame of multiplying in big families that caused the crusades against savages multiplying muslim clones, have become self-hating nihimlists who fail to figure preventing sin from fruitfulness.
Or Newt.
I know this because I am from NYC and my family consisted of World War 2 vets who then went into the trades, on the police force or in the fire department. Union strongholds.
Needless to say almost to a man and woman they were democrats and the survivors still are.
Now my brother and I, also vets, are as conservative as it gets. So are some of our cousins but others are as lefty as it gets. Don't see them much. :->
The point here is that Catholics as a group, including church goers like myself and non practing Catholics, are not as conservative as southern evangelicals and never will be. But the republican candidate can and probably will win a majority of the Catholic vote this tikme around because of the economy. Obamas attack on the free exercise clause may swing a percent or two but that's about it. I think that attack is more likely to increase Evangelical turnout than swing Catholic votes and it pains me to say that but there it is anyhow.
RE: Catholics don’t like Santorum, even in 2006 when Santorum was being dumped from office, he received 42% of the white Catholic vote, and 71% of the white Evangelical vote
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Hmmm... I wonder what the reason is. Why do people who supposedly share Santorum’s faith NOT vote for him, while those who share it peripherally do?
Catholics don’t like the Evangelical crowd one bit. In fact it’s like a mutual hate contest between them. Sort of like the other splits in history as the orthodox churches held on to the established traditions of the church “New Church” went separate ways.
Not many protestants are true to their faith either.
RE: Catholics don’t like the Evangelical crowd one bit.
If true ( and I reserve my opinions on this one barring further reliable poll results ), then I would have to say the feeling does not seem to be mutual. Otherwise, why would a vast majority of Evangelicals support a devout Catholic like Santorum?
I’m a Catholic who will vote for Rick Santorum, but the majority of Catholics voted for the Clintons. Can’t help but wonder if these self-proclaimed “Catholics” are practicing Catholics, or not, at least many, many of them.
If there was a viable socially conservative evangelical candidate, they would support that candidate, but there’s not. Santorum is just the lesser of four evils.
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