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The other 45% of Catholics (or out of that, the % that still attend church regularly) cite the justification for voting Democrat on "other social issues" such as the Death Penalty, war, the like. But it's important to note the words from the Pope (as from when he was in his role as Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith) in a memo sent to the to the USCCB...The following on the memo is from Cardinalrating.com...(bold emphasis is mine) "Paragraph #3 — Cardinal Ratzinger gives the U.S. bishops clear directives that no other human rights or moral issues have the same serious moral weight as abortion and euthanasia.

Please note that #3 readily refutes those many U.S. bishops who have publicly said they would not deny the Eucharist to pro-abortion legislators because then they would have to deny also those persons who favored war or the death penalty. Ratzinger explained the Church does not condemn war and the death penalty, but does condemn abortion and euthanasia."

Catholic vote losses were so important to Democrats, that strategists issued a memo on the loss of Catholic constituencies. The memo calls the decline in support of white Catholics for Democrats "striking" and "a big part of the 2004 election story." One key finding is that Catholic voters are becoming more pro-life, which the memo authors called "a factor in the recent losses and one of the blockages for Democrats, at least in the Midwest."

READ MEMO HERE: Democratic strategists issue memo on loss of Catholics http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=36492

It should be noted that the 2004 Catholic vote swing to Bush did not happen in a vacuum. Historically, Catholics voted Democrat dating back to the days when they got off the boats at Ellis Island and were met by Democrat precinct workers who signed up the new immigrants. Candidate Bush made a dedicated effort to get Catholic votes, staking out positions especially appealing to pro-life Catholics, and it worked. And, of course, Jeb Bush converted to Catholicism many years ago, the faith of his Catholic wife Columba.