Catholic Vote in PA?

Every four years, it seems, the media gets the idea that Pennsylvania is the Fourth Rome. For some reason it is looked to as the very epicenter of the Catholic world and a sort of time capsule. It is a land where blue-collar types put in long hours at the steel mill, never miss Mass (said by a priest with an Irish brogue no doubt), and send their kids to parochial schools run by ruler-wielding nuns in full habits. Furthermore, everyone apparently thinks Al Smith or JFK is on the Democratic ticket. This image probably correlates to the last time anything resembling a significant number of members of the media were practicing Catholics and has been frozen in time ever since.

To be sure, the only time the media doesn't mock or downplay Catholic piety is when the slightest hint of it (and Mass attendence is a preety low bar to set) is being exhibited by conflicted, Democratic leaning, voters, in a swing state.

The New York Times tells us...

Abortion Issue Again Dividing Catholic Votes

(Some excerpts and commentary, emphasis added.)

"...But then his local bishop plunged into the fray, barring Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, from receiving communion in the area because of his support for abortion rights..."

-This would seem to imply that Biden has formally been excommunicated, but since this is the New York Times I will wait for other confirmation of this.

"...Now Mr. Figured thinks he will vote for the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona. “People should straighten out their religious beliefs before they start making political decisions,” Mr. Figured, 22, said on his way into Sunday Mass..."

-It is interesting how the younger people, the so called "John Paul II" generation, seem a lot less interested in going against the Bishops than the baby-boomers. Young people who stay in the Church when they see so many of their peers drop out (or more likely, raised largely outside of it) have much more of a "love it or leave it" attitude. Perhaps this is different than the "you can't leave!" mentality of the distant past, but certainly a breath of fresh air compared to the "I can change the Church to something that reflects what I want it to be" approach that was until recent years so dominant in the US.

"...The theological dispute is playing out in diocesan newspapers and weekly homilies, while the campaigns scramble to set up phone banks of nuns and private meetings with influential bishops..."

-If the previous post is any indication, the candidates aren't exactly in "scramble" mood. As for the nuns, one wonders if the sort of nuns who would phone-bank for a pro-choice candidate will even be around three or four election cycles down the road. Bishops speaking out on non-negotiable issues is a good thing, and a matter of duty. Nuns making calls at the county party headquarters seems to be in poor taste, at the very least.

"...planning to vote for Mr. Obama, some saying they sided with their labor unions instead of the church and others repeating liberal arguments about church doctrine broader than abortion..."

-Of course it's broader than that. The ocean is much broader than an iceberg too, but if you're on a collision course with one, it may take priority. As to the labor unions, I was unaware that Jesus had had a copy of those keys he entrusted to Peter made for the Teamsters.

"Susan Tighe, an insurance lawyer who identified herself as “a folk Catholic, from the guitar-strumming social-justice side” of the church..."

-This sounds like the Stockholm Syndrome and may be an opportune moment to thank His Holiness for Summorum Pontificum.

"...Mr. Madonna, the political scientist, said of the Catholic vote in white, working-class Scranton, 'This is a tough area for Obama and some of it is race....'"

-I have a feeling that the supposed wide-spread racism of white, working-class, Catholics that political scientists talk about has long outlived the reality. This charge is more than a little insulting. I am sure if McCain wins, though, this will be talked up as one of the major factors in his favor. Decide for yourself if you think that will end up endearing these voters to the Democratic party in the future.

"...Both sides say that Mr. Obama has a broader grass-roots turnout operation than Mr. McCain. In Pennsylvania, the campaign has trained organizers to talk about Catholic doctrine on abortion and other issues, held about two dozen “brunch for Barack” events after Sunday Mass and organized what the campaign calls “nun banks” to call lists of Catholic voters..."

-Could you imagine what would happen if the McCain campaign was trying to recruit, say, Baptist ministers, to do the same?

"...'It is a running debate between Catholics saying ‘abortion is the only issue’ and others saying ‘you have to look at the whole teaching of the church...’"

-No one is saying it is the only issue, and even if someone was focused on it to the point that they were completely ignoring other valid issues, that would seem far less harmful than people trying to downplay what may be the most important moral issue of our time. It is a relief though to note that even people who are downplaying the issue are not debating the validity of the Church teaching on the matter anymore, that is, other than Nancy Pelosi and Joe Bidden.