“We have strong evidence that the Palin pick was the big part of it .”

[megimoo]

Palin Boosts McCain With Devout Catholic Voters

The McCain-Palin ticket may be locking its huge lead on a crucial voting bloc: church-going Catholics.

The development — contained Thursday in a poll by the Pew Research Center and backed by other polls — could be crucial to victory in November.

Why? Catholics are the ultimate swing voters and make up as much as one-third the population of battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Moreover, some 40 percent of U.S. Catholics have no affiliation with either party.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain now has opened a 16-percentage-point lead over Democratic rival Barack Obama among observant Catholics, according to the Pew poll. The lead began to widen with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, who, unknown to most voters, was baptized in the Catholic Church but raised in primarily Protestant evangelical churches.

The gain was noted earlier this month in a Zogby Online Interactive poll that showed 54 percent of Catholic respondents endorsing McCain’s choice of Palin for his running mate. Thirty-one percent believed it would hurt the campaign. Seven percent believed it would not make a difference.

But there also was good news in the Pew poll for Obama: his is gaining among Hispanics, two-thirds of whom are Catholic.

He’s also even with McCain among so-called “lapsed Catholics” who attend mass occasionally or never. Because of their dramatic growth in the electorate in the West over the last decade, a large Hispanic turnout could tip the election for Obama if he wins at least 40 percent of that bloc, according to experts.

For decades, Catholics have been leaving their traditional home in the Democratic Party, with more-observant Catholics in the vanguard. Northeastern Catholics were a huge factor in the victories of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. But over the last four years, pollsters and religious experts have detected a reconsideration of Democrats.

McCain may be winning them back.

“We have strong evidence that the Palin pick was the big part of it,” Scott Keeter, director of survey research at Pew, told The Christian Science Monitor. Palin’s large family and her decision to bear her fifth child despite a diagnosis of Down syndrome lit a spark with observant Catholics who are staunchly against abortion. Palin also reassured these voters on “a whole constellation of values issues that are important to conservative Christians,” Keeler said.

What’s now up for grabs is the vote of white, less-observant Catholics.

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/p...18/132268.html

[GrumpyOldLady]

All the Catholics I know just adore Govenor Palin.

I hope she brings Pennsylvania (heavy Catholic population) into the RED!

[gator]

But there also was good news in the Pew poll for Obama: his is gaining among Hispanics, two-thirds of whom are Catholic.

I think this will be a much bigger factor than we realize.

The country is flooded with Hispanics and they are in the process of changing all of America like they changed California.

They mostly vote Democrat. If it is a close election and Obama wins you can thank the Hispanic vote.

When Reagan and Bush refused to send the Mexicans home this is what they were giving us. They were giving us millions of Liberal voters.

They tried to kiss the ass of the Hispanics voters but at the end of the day these Hispanics will vote for the party that promises them the most. Obama is good at promising freebies.

[megimoo]

I think this will be a much bigger factor than we realize.

The country is flooded with Hispanics and they are in the process of changing all of America like they changed California.

They mostly vote Democrat. If it is a close election and Obama wins you can thank the Hispanic vote.

When Reagan and Bush refused to send the Mexicans home this is what they were giving us. They were giving us millions of Liberal voters.

They tried to kis the ass of the Hispanics voters but at the end of the day these Hispanics will vote for the party that promises them the most. Obama is good at promising freebies.

You seem to forget the animosity between blacks and hispanics !There is general warfare between the two in Los Angeles and the blacks have all moved out to avoid being killed.

Some will be manipulated to vote for Obama but some will avoid him for reasons of him being
black and will not vote.

With inner city poll workers being aware of false voter registrations most illegal hispanics will
avoid the polls places like the plague .

I also can't See Acorn attempting to register many hispanics .Most Acorn critters are either black or white liberal college kids working the inner cities slums registering street people for free butts and booze .

Some Hispanics at the political top will support the liberals for reasons of political power but most are family people who will eventually figure out what the liberal baby killers really stand for !

[cat714]

You seem to forget the animosity between blacks and hispanics !There is general warfare between the two in Los Angeles and the blacks have all moved out to avoid being killed.

Some will be manipulated to vote for Obama but some will avoid him for reasons of him being
black and will not vote.

You are right. People don't realize that there is more racial tension between hispanics and blacks than with whites. My mom, who is hispanic, lives in an area that is 95% hispanic. A few blacks have moved into the area and she, and the neighbors, are all pissed off about it. She always votes democrat, but she isn't voting for Obama so I am going to probe that issue more this weekend.

Most blacks are going to vote Obama, but it will be mixed with hispanics. I think the vote may swing to McCain...not sure by how much. The Catholic church embraces the whole pro-life issue and I know a lot of churches will press their congragations to vote for the candidate who is pro-life. You also have the issue of gay marriage and that is something the Catholic church is strongly opposed of.