Writing of controversy surrounding President Obama's upcoming commencement address at Notre Dame, MSNBC notes: "Despite the protests by some, it's worth pointing out that Obama won Catholics 54%-45% in the 2008 general election. Bush won them, 52%-47%, in 2004 over Kerry, a Catholic."
True, but incomplete.
In both elections, the Catholic vote closely tracked with the overall popular vote. Nationwide, President Obama won 53%-46% while President Bush won 51%-48%. Moreover, Obama did well among Catholics because he had strong appeal to Hispanics, who were voting on a variety of issues, not just "Catholic" ones. McCain won white Catholics 52%-47%, whereas Bush won them 56%-43%. As a Pew analysis shows, Democrats made their biggest gains among voters unaffiliated with a religion: 75% for Obama compared with 67% for Kerry.
Divided We Stand
New book about the 2020 election.
