Stephen S. Schneck on CNN’s Belief Blog writes that the idea of a Catholic voters bloc “is patently ridiculous.” American Catholics mirror most of American voters, and are divided between Democrats, Independents, and Republicans at about the same percentage as the electorate as a whole:
“And it’s hard to trace such political complexity to religious allegiance . . . One explanation for why is the sheer number of Catholic voters and their now multigenerational assimilation into American society. About 35 million Catholics voted in 2008. That’s about 27% of all voters . . . By finally achieving that assimilation, Catholics in the last 50 years have lost much of their sense of special self-identity. For white Catholics, who are about 60% of the Catholic vote, their distinctiveness in class, education, income and even ethnicity has grown increasingly ambiguous in America’s famous melting pot.”
The Latino vote, GetReligion points out, is one of “three discrete Catholic votes at play in modern American politics. It is a swing vote that often backs Democrats due to issues of economics and social justice.” The Latino vote counts for a whole third of the Catholic vote, which usually represents about 27% of the entire electorate.
The second major category, reports Schneck:
“Largely white, with impressive education levels, mostly suburban and with moderate to high income levels, such Catholics are in evidence in weekly Mass attendance and parish activities. Politically active, intentional Catholic voters lean toward the Republican Party (with some youthful swing voters) and are motivated by economic issues and increasingly by opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and illegal immigration”
And perhaps the most interesting category, the cultural Catholics:
“Many culturally Catholic voters are at odds with both conservatives and liberals on many issues. They are more socially conservative than the majority of Americans, but many are put off by the more intense social conservatism of intentional Catholics and evangelicals. They are more economically populist than most Americans but are uncomfortable with the libertarian zeal of the tea party. They are alienated from the lifestyle liberalism of many progressives but remain supportive of unions and governmental programs for the middle class.”
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