Out of all the voting blocs for the 2008 presidential elections, the most influential and vital voting bloc is up for grabs between GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona and the eventual Democratic nominee should it be either Senator Barack Obama of Illinois or Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.
Twenty percent of the electorate is comprised of American Catholics. Also, that same electorate had “picked” the winner in the eight of the nine last US presidential elections. This one bloc could tip the balance at any given moment. As a result, one must pay specific attention to this voting bloc. The visit from Pope Benedict XVI could very well play an instrumental role in what direction the scale tips and to which candidate.
According to John Allen, the senior Vatican analyst for CNN, the pope is not out to give a key endorsement. Allen does add: “On the other hand, I think it would be terribly naïve to think there’s no political subtext to the Pope’s presence in the United States.” This gives the indication that pope’s visit will have an impact on the campaigns of John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.
As the Catholic voting bloc has been the deciding factor, it has not focused on a specific party. The focus of its support has shifted between Democratic and Republican candidates.
Because of that, the Catholic bloc should be considered as a swing bloc. The Catholic bloc can swing in either direction like a pendulum. It is unknown which candidate that voting bloc will give its support to.
Democratic co-frontrunner Clinton says that she is on the same wavelength as Pope Benedict XVI on the issues of justice and peace. Clinton said that Benedict has been an influential voice in combating poverty.
Democratic co-frontrunner Barack Obama recently got an endorsement from Senator Bob Casey Jr. He is one of the most known anti-abortion Catholics. In addition, the school that Obama went to while in Indonesia was a Catholic school. This will further shoot down the claims that Obama went to a Muslim school.
GOP nominee John McCain himself also has a strong chance to grab the Catholic vote due to Iraq being his major platform. His main obstacle in getting the Catholic vote is the Vatican’s opposition to the Iraq War. Pope John Paul II had opposed the war in Iraq. Pope Benedict XVI continues with the opposition. However, McCain could use the platform on Islamic terrorism.
In short, the Catholic vote is pretty much the wild card on the table in this political poker game. Still, it is unknown who will be able to grab the wild card and hold onto it until the general election.
On a side note, the Vatican had recently added the “Seven Mortal Sins” next to the Seven Deadly Sins as a means to motivate more people to attend confession.
However, in a recent report on religion in the United States, the religious denominations of Catholicism and Protestantism have been losing members. Most of the Catholics in the United States are Latino according to a recent study. In a sense, the Catholic vote could coincide with the Latino vote.