Posted on 03/07/2012 7:50:09 AM PST by marshmallow
(CNN) - Rick Santorum, a conservative Catholic who is outspoken about faith-based issues, lost Catholic voters by a wide margin in Ohio on Tuesday, potentially a key factor that allowed Mitt Romney to squeak out the narrowest of victories overall in the state.
According to CNN’s exit polls, Romney took 43% of Ohio Catholics on Super Tuesday, compared to 31% for Rick Santorum, and Romney beat Santorum overall by 38% to 37%.
Catholic voters accounted for a third of Ohio’s Republican electorate, the largest share of Catholics in any Super Tuesday state.
“The margin of Romney's win among Ohio Catholics is surprising, given Santorum's traditional Catholicism,” says John Green, a political science professor at the University of Ohio. “Romney's margin among Ohio Catholics - especially in the three largest metropolitan areas - may account for his close win in Ohio.”
Green notes that Romney, a Mormon, has consistently won the Catholic vote in this year’s Republican primaries. That pattern runs counter to speculation that Catholics would focus more on hot-button issues at a time when Catholic bishops are battling the Obama White House over government-mandated contraception coverage.
Romney has denounced the Obama administration’s contraception rule but Santorum has gone further, making social issues a cornerstone of his campaign. Last week, the former Pennsylvania senator said that John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech in which the then-presidential candidate advocated an absolute separation of church and state nearly made him throw up.
(Excerpt) Read more at religion.blogs.cnn.com ...
The epic failure of American Catholicism over the last 40-50 years rolled out in all its glory. It's little wonder that Obama is emboldened in his confrontation with the Catholic Church and its bishops. He believes, rightly, that significant numbers of those who self-identify as Catholics have long ago made their peace with the "culture of death".
We evangelicals on the other hand love hearing him speak openly about such things.
We “real” Catholics do as well.
The Church should have publicly excommunicated public figures claiming to be Catholic while rejecting Church teachings on moral issues.
Same must be said for the Evangelical churches. Bill Clinton and James Earl Carter come to mind. I’m certain there are many other “Baptists” that should be excommunicated.
If this alienated large swathes of people and they left the Church, all the better. A smaller, purer, stronger Church will always accomplish much greater things than a large, worldly, weak church.
Personally, I believe that all of this emphasis on the ‘Catholic’ vote is aligned to a significant aspect of Obama’s plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVN2MMuiedI&feature=sdig
*Note what a divisive man Obama is with rich/poor, minority/majority, Catholic-in-name-only/practicing Catholic.
Pure Alinsky tactics!
The hysterical left has succeeded in using contraception as a wedge issue, and Rick fell into the trap. I’m waiting for the current 0ccupant to be vetted and held accountable. It’s not happening because we let them frame the debate. Meanwhile, Mitt, like McCain tells us what a fine fellow 0 is.
Unfgortunately, just like Romney, many Catholics tend to be pro-abortion...
That’s because Catholics in the USA are union first.
So do ordinary everyday Catholics. The folks ij the pews every week are NOT the Catholics referred to as Romney voters. Unfortunately there's no law against secularists who are 2-3 generations removed form full participation in the Church calling themselves Catholic.
So do ordinary everyday Catholics. The folks ij the pews every week are NOT the Catholics referred to as Romney voters. Unfortunately there's no law against secularists who are 2-3 generations removed form full participation in the Church calling themselves Catholic.
Even practicing Catholics seldom vote on religious issues. For the most part they vote for who they think is the better candidate.
That being said I think Santorum won among Catholics who attend mass.
That’s an ugly lie.
The real issue here is that many Catholics have dealt with the Rick Santorums of the world. They were the head altar boy, teacher’s pet types who took their hall monitor job way too seriously. They were the perfect little Catholic with a Lancelot complex. They were very annoying as holier than thou children and still are as presidential candidates.
Newt and Rick supporters need to stand together against romney otherwise he wins. I have always said that Rick is my guy, but I will vote for Newt; never romney or paul. If we fight one another we will end up with romney. I have defended Rick, but have never said anything to harm Newt. I have heard a lot of Newt supporters who call Rick names and make outlandish claims about him. I hear some say they will never vote for Santorum if he gets in. Is that what you want Santorum supporters to say if Newt gets in? We will never support Newt? Is Santorum perfect? No. Neither is Newt. Some of the people who say they are Newt supporters, I’m starting to question if they are really romney supporters trying to make us fight one another rather than the real enemy; romney. Lets work together to take out romney. Otherwise we will have to pray for a third party, because I will NEVER vote for romney.
They go from thread to thread only to slam Rick. Nothing negative to say about obama or romney???
Until the time he met his future wife, he was a self-described "nominal Catholic", much like those who are now voting for Romney and who have little interest in the right to life or other moral issues.
Happily, Rick saw the light.
The Pope needs to get over here and tell Catholics that they cannot be Catholic on a Sunday or when it suits them and then be voting for killing babies and same sex etc.
A memo needs to go out as well to every Catholic church mentioning this and remind most Catholics up in the north to get a grip .
The north east should be the most conservative area in the country but alas most Catholics up there seem to ignore their so called faith.
Rick did not fall into the trap - he IS the trap. He has spoken about such things for so many years that he will NEVER escape them and NEVER change the subject.
And yes, parading around seven kids like props and the sweater vest and all of that just plays into it. It is not his fault, but it is the fault of anyone on our side who doesn’t see the abject danger of nominating this guy. He is who he is, period. And he is soooo easy to paint in this corner.
And actually, there is part of him that welcomes it too, making it worse.
[ That’s because Catholics in the USA are union first.]
But isn’t Santorum more pro-union than Romney?
I’ve read all over FR that Santorum is pro-union.
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