Alert: Catholic vote changed in states with outspoken bishops
Catholics DO listen to their bishops in matters political? In a news analysis piece for the OSV newsweekly, researcher Mark M. Gray — director of CARA Catholic polling at the Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate — makes a very interesting observation: Compared to 2004 numbers, Obama lost ground among Catholic voters in six states: Missouri, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, and California.Says Gray: "In both Missouri and Pennsylvania Catholic bishops made statements, widely covered by the media, regarding the importance of life issues relative to other issues in the campaign. These statements potentially had an effect on the votes of Catholics in these states given Obama's voting record and support for abortion. In California voters approved a ballot proposition banning same-sex marriage that was supported by California bishops. It is not possible to isolate these potential effects with the exit poll data released so far but these are potential hypothesis to explore further."
Read the entire article on osv.com here»
