According to Zogby, The McCain/Palin ticket wins 49.7% support, compared to 45.9% backing for the Obama/Biden ticket. That’s big news.
But I found something even more interesting in the swing of the Catholic vote in this survey towards McCain and away from Obama, a former community organizer.
Pollster John Zogby writes: “Clearly, Palin is helping the McCain ticket. She has high favorability numbers, and has unified the Republican Party. The striking thing here in this poll is that McCain has pulled ahead among Catholics by double-digits. On the other hand, Palin is not helping with likely voting women who are not aligned with either political party. The undecided independent women voters decreased this week from 15% to 7%, but those women went to Obama.
I haven’t been able to study the cross tabs on this to find out the actual numbers but I found this of interest as the Catholic vote has been much discussed this election year. I will keep looking for the numbers.
Somewhere, I know, Doug Kmiec is spitting out his coffee this morning into his copy of the New York Times.
I don’t know exactly why this happened-the swing of the vote, not the coffee thing. But the funny thing is that the media thought religious types would run from Palin when it was discovered that her 17 year old daughter was not perfect. It seems that once again the media showed they don’t understand us at all.
Any thoughts as to why this swing might have happened?
September 7, 2008 at 1:08 pm
The essence of Christianity is the embrace of the sinner and, for that, one need only look at Luke’s story of the Prodigal Son. In that embrace is the utter admission that each and every one of us is a great sinner in need of God’s forgiveness even if we don’t deserve such grace. So a child, a teen, or a young adult is especially one who most needs the love and forgiveness of those adults who have themselves experienced that same from the Lord many times. The Palin family’s bonds of love reflect the bonds of love of the average family and, as such, most exemplify that great grace of love and acceptance of us by our Heavenly Father. Many of us, one way or another, are the Palin’s in our own way.
September 7, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Sarah’s Catholic connection is slender, but real, and one prays she returns to the fullness of the Faith her parents denied her. More than that, though, Sarah is a solid individual close to the soil instead of to the Beltway, and is blessed with courage, intellect, and good sense. And her family is wonderfully normal and delightful!
— Mack
September 7, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I really believe that Catholics, in general, can recognize someone who follows the teachings of Christ instead of just paying lip service to it. So, despite the fact that Palin is a Protestant, many of the values and patterns that surface in her life demonstrate a real faith in Christ, whereas professed “Catholics” like Biden and Pelosi belie the hypocrisy that is so often found among politicians of any religious creed. I, for one, would rather have an “agnostic” who acts as though God exists rather than a “Catholic” like Pelosi who says she believes in God and then targets the weakest among us for wholesale destruction. At least the former is consistent, cautious, and measured, instead of the latter, who is crass, brazen, and hypocritical.
September 7, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Candidates tend to cry “let’s talk about the issues” whenever matters of personal character arise, not realizing that character is an issue. Palin is rescuing McCain from the brow-beating he’s been getting from conservatives since the first part of the year. McCain listened to that brow-beating with his VP selection, which speaks well of him. Palin walks the walk, which speaks well of her. Catholic voters have been looking for that. Maybe now they have found it.
September 7, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I would point out that Zogby’s polling has been pretty inaccurate in the past.
I wouldn’t take it as a substantiated trend until it was confirmed by another pollster, preferably a reliable one like Rasmussen.
September 7, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Sarah’s Catholic connection……while it would be a great blessing to have the likes of Sarah Palin in the Catholic faith with her integrated faith, we might well try even moreso to pray Biden and Pelosi back into the faith. I think the Biden’s and Pelosi’s who do not have an integrated faith is a big reason why Sarah’s parents decided to take their children elsewhere, and in some ways, i can’t say that I blame them, or that it didn’t pay off. I love being Catholic, but I hate it that so many of us don’t know our heads from a hole in the ground when it comes to living what our faith teaches.
September 7, 2008 at 10:58 pm
gallup has mccain/palin up three.
September 8, 2008 at 4:09 am
Sen. Obama has been struggling with working and lower middle class whites, a large percentage of whom are Catholic. During the Democratic primaries, 70% of Catholics in Pennsylvania and 65% in Ohio voted for Sen. Clinton. Polls indicate a significant percentage of former Clinton supporters are now favoring McCain (I’ve heard in the neighborhood of 20-25%). So it’s not really all that surprising if it turns out he’s now ahead by double-digits among Catholics.
September 8, 2008 at 5:22 am
I have never voted for a Republican (or Democratic) presidential candidate because they were not as pro-life as the Constitution Party candidate. However, thanks to Sarah Palin, I will be voting for McCain in this election. For the first time, I am actually excited about and interested in a presidential race and I am praying that McCain and Palin win!
September 8, 2008 at 5:31 am
It is the blue-collar, Reagan Democratics being drawn in by Palin.
September 8, 2008 at 2:18 pm
The Sarah Factor has everything to do with the shift. Her presence has rendered the entire Democratic Convention, and the Sermon on The Gridiron which ended it, completely null and void. Obama is clearly off his game. Biden is, well, Biden. The Left Wing Blogosphere still has its collective knickers in a twist. Not that I will maintain overconfidence. But it appears the Pro-Life Movement has suddenly become as trendy as the hairstyles and eyewear favored by the Hockey Mom.
September 8, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Why have Catholics embraced Sarah Palin?
1) They are fully convinced that an anti-abortion candidate on the ticket will, in some way, guarantee a reversal of Roe v. Wade.
2) Because Catholics, just like many mainline Protestants and evangelicals, have embraced feminism whole heartedly. As such, they see nothing contradictory about Sarah Palin holding the second highest office in the Nation and being the mother of 5 children–one of whom is an infant.
3) Because very few Catholics have actually read or taken lessons on the Theology of the Body.
September 8, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I will admit that I am a Catholic who recently switched allegiences from Obama to McCain.
When I initially looked at the presidential race I was looking for a change. Obama was charismatic and hopeful, and the thought of a “change” of course away from the cronyism of the past 8 years under Bush seemed like a no brainer.
I would never support his stances on gay marriage or abortion, but I thought I could support him in spite of his platform on those and other issues. Like Obama, I do not support war in Iraq. Namely, because it violates many facets of the Just War Doctrine outlined in the CCC. Being a veteran of the armed forces, this issue hit very close to home. I support those men and women who were fighting, but I don’t support the premise under which they were sent to fight.
Anyways, after some prayer and thought on it I decided it foolish to vote for Obama purely for the promise of change. While yes, this country is in a bit of disarray right now, voting against one candidate for the sins of others in the same party (BUSH), or voting for the alternative because of a desire to see a change of course did not make sense.
The choice of Palin was all the reassurance I needed that McCain was true to his word to want a move away from the “establishment of GW Bush”.
While the choice of Palin definitely solidified my decision, I had already made the decision to support McCain.
September 8, 2008 at 10:02 pm
The swing is due to this one thing.
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm
Palin’s nomination highlighted it and brought it to the fore. This election has become the US’s decisive battle an all-out culture war between the culture of life and the culture of death.
September 9, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Palin deserves the same scrutiny as Romney: Read mission and statement of the Assembly of God, Palin’s religious community. Ask yourself where Roman Catholicism fits here. Why is the Pope silent on this hatred of the Roman Catholic Church. Do not commit the absurd “enemy of my enemy is my friend” error. The Assembly of God is no ally of the Church, or God!
September 9, 2008 at 8:14 pm
“Palin deserves the same scrutiny as Romney: Read mission and statement of the Assembly of God, Palin’s religious community. Ask yourself where Roman Catholicism fits here…”
Oh, sorry, I was too busy asking myself how much control a twelve-year-old girl would have over her parents’ raising of her. Obviously I was too distracted to notice something I already knew.
I also knew it to be irrelevant, inasmuch as Palin no longer affiliates herself with the Assembly of God, and has not for many years.
Of course, Biden is a real live card-carrying Catholic. Ooooh, that makes it all better, right?
September 10, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Whether Catholic or Protestant, the basic right to life is consistent. Some have accused Palin of being too much to the right; however, one only has to compare that to what Obama not only believes but how and what he stood for on "infanticide". If you don't know what that is, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HRFqmlZEbY&feature=related.(You can cut and past into your browser header.)
I guess that this what happens when knowing when life begins is "above your pay grade".
September 11, 2008 at 5:07 am
Ms. Palin is a proven liar (five times over; is demonstrably greedy, and seems to lack mothering skills. Track was in trouble with the law which is why he is off to Iraq. However, the ad put out by the McCain camp accusing Obama of countenancing sex education in kindergarten, when in reality he voted for children being taught how to avoid strangers and molestation, is pure unadultered evil. My priest tells me that Revelations actually reflects the past, rather than the future. Do you really want a person who believes in end times? By the way, I used to work with and for Republicans. They think that Catholics can easily be swayed by the one issue.
September 11, 2008 at 5:36 pm
“Ms. Palin is a proven liar…”
Okay, genius, prove it HERE! Until you do, I’d prefer someone who believes in the “End Times” over someone who believes that a newborn baby is “punishment.”