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TechnoratiYou gotta have faith
Joe Biden's nomination as Barack Obama's running mate casts a shadow over the Democrats' campaign.
You gotta have faith,
faith, faith.
I doubt very much that when fallen pop star George Michael was singing those words in his 1987 hit song “Faith”, he was envisioning the Democratic presidential ticket of 2008, but faith is what Senator Joe Biden brings to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Much has been written about Senator Biden’s extensive experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, filling a hole that is seen as lacking on the Obama ticket, the junior Senator from Illinois’ lack of foreign policy experience. I have no doubt Biden brings much to the table in the foreign policy field, but I still think Biden’s appointment was made to attract voters the Obama camp has not been able to draw, working-class Catholics.
Senator Biden is one of the most recognizable and senior ranking Catholics in the US Capitol and despite 36 years of earning a senator’s salary he maintains a reputation as a blue-collar kind of guy based on his roots in working class Scranton, Pennsylvania. During the Democratic primaries, it was this base of support, working-class, white, Catholic voters that Barack Obama had the most trouble attracting. While Obama swept self-described liberals and secularists, he could not compete with Hillary Clinton in winning the Catholic vote.
Why is this important? Because Catholic voters decide elections. While much attention has been paid to evangelical voters over the past eight years, this religiously minded group of voters leans overwhelmingly, though not exclusively Republican. Catholics, who like Evangelical Protestants, make up close a quarter of the American population, are a less homogenous voting bloc.
Since 1972, the winner of the popular vote in presidential elections has taken the plurality of the Catholic vote. In 2000, with the nation divided, so were Catholic voters: 50 percent favoured Al Gore to 47 percent backing George W. Bush. Gore won the popular vote but not the all important electoral college. In 2004 President Bush won the Catholic vote 52 percent to Catholic candidate John Kerry’s 47 percent. In 2008, as in all elections over the last 36 years, Catholics are swing voters, up for grabs to the campaign that can best woo voters who identify with their faith even if it may not guide their ballot.
So does all this mean that by appointing Catholic Joe Biden that the Obama campaign can pick up all of the disgruntled Hillary supporters and cruise to victory in November. Perhaps, but likely not. An initial poll by Zogby International shortly after Obama’s selection of Biden showed a bump for the Democrats, putting Obama back in the lead after McCain briefly stole it away. Zogby’s previous poll showing McCain in the lead was also showing Obama losing Catholic support. The hope is that Biden will help shore that up. Yet as Sheila Liaugminas points out on the MercatorNet Election2008 blog, Biden’s appointment and his faith bring challenges. Biden supports abortion in direct opposition to the faith he so openly talks about.
“This revives the issue of the Catholic divide, between those who ‘run afoul of church teachings’ and interpret them to fit a liberal view of human rights and social justice… and those whose public actions are informed by Church teachings on all matters of human rights and peace and justice.”
Among those on the side of Catholic politicians backing Catholic teaching on matters like abortion is the group Fidelis, an organization that proclaims itself to be “Faithful, Loyal, True” when it comes to Church teaching. In a statement shortly after Biden’s appointment its president, Brian Burch, said that Biden’s appointment reopens a Catholic wound
“Now everywhere Biden campaigns, we’ll have this question of whether a pro-abortion Catholic can receive Communion. Senator Biden is an unrepentant supporter of abortion in direct opposition to the Church he claims as his own. Selecting a pro-abortion Catholic is a slap in the face to Catholic voters.”
As Democrats gather in Denver to officially nominate their new leadership, some powerful Catholic clergy are already asking questions. Charles Chaput, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Denver is quoted by the Associated Press: “I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for Communion, if he supports a false 'right' to abortion." The Obama campaign either unwittingly or unwisely named a dissenting Catholic as their vice-presidential nominee as the party gathers to unite in a city where the Catholic faithful are lead by one of the most outspoken and influential bishops in America today.
In Biden’s home diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, Bishop Michael Saltarelli is on the record as saying Biden and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians are not allowed to speak at Catholic schools. In 2004 he stated that "Our Catholic institutions will not honor Catholic politicians who take pro-abortion legislative positions or invite them to speak at our functions or schools." So, even if he becomes Vice-President, Biden would not be allowed to speak at Catholic schools he once attended and supported.
During the 2004 campaign, Senator John Kerry had to deal with calls for him to be denied communion, a distinct possibility in some parishes then for Kerry and now for Biden. While Biden’s current bishop says he prefers "active engagement and dialogue" to banning someone from communion and Denver’s Archbishop Chaput is likely to ask those who rebuke Church teachings to exclude themselves, others in the Catholic hierarchy, including Pope Benedict, have insisted that politicians who support abortion cannot take communion.
Will any of this matter to the average Catholic voter? Some will be turned off by news of Biden’s stance against the Church; others will resent what they see as the Church interfering with politics. For most Catholic voters though, this point is unlikely to matter. Except... except, it adds to the cloud of negatives each side will throw at the other during the campaign. Biden has already been described as Obama’s attack dog but he will be attacked on this very issue. The issue itself may have a minor impact but if the hope is to attract Catholic voters, a negative impression is not what you want.
Senator Joe Biden has rightly said that his party, the modern Democratic Party, must deal with faith and religion. Sometime during this campaign, Senator Joe Biden will have to deal with his own faith and religion.
Brian Lilley is Ottawa Bureau Chief for radio stations 1010 CFRB in Toronto and CJAD 800 in Montreal. He is Associate Editor of MercatorNet.
I have to agree with Dr. Moore. No candidate lines up with my Catholic faith 100% if foreign affairs are defined as life/social justice issues. In this case, over the issues most current--those issues I would say are “on the table” and about which decisions are looming—Obama/Biden seem more in tune with my faith than the McCain/Palin ticket. There is only this one, albeit very sticky, issue of abortion that would seem to deny my voting Democratic this year, a trump card of sorts.
Certainly a basic change toward fiscal responsibility, justice in our international dealings, and wisdom in the use of our armed forces is most needed right now, and I do not see McCain and the Republican party, of which I am a disgruntled member, giving these issues so much as an honest glance. I also don’t see our country overturning R v W anytime soon, no matter which justices are assigned to the high court in the near future. I think Bush’s own Supreme Court selections guarantee the status quo more than most Pro-Lifers are willing to admit, with their no-legislation-from-the-bench stance. It would take the perfect case, in which the justices were forced to define human life, in order to decide the issue.
I think the abortion issue will not be decided in this country until hearts change, no matter how frenzied radical Pro-Lifers get. In this way, I think they often hurt more than help the situation. Certainly we have to be wise and pick our battles sometimes. Still, Election Day 2008 does not present an easy choice.
Well written with good content! Now that Senator McCain has chosen a GREAT pro-life woman for his VP choice,Governor Sarah Palin, we in the pro-life movement welcome her with open arms, and solid votes! As this issue of abortion is the GREATEST issue of our times, we must vote to get this procedure and non-RIGHT eradicated from our country and the world. As our government sends billions of dollars to Planned (non)Parenthood all over the world, the withdrawal of funds will greatly serve to hinder that killing of mankind, and the underlying issue of ‘ethnic cleansing’ especially in Africa.
I will be casting my one vote for Life in November. Shame on Senator Biden, non-Catholic.
No one wants there to be war. I was in the middle east, between the two Gulf Wars and participated in inspections of ships entering Iraq. I personally saw illegal contraband which could be used in the manufacture of Weapons of Mass destruction so perhaps my view is a little different that those who never had that experience. Many political opportunities were give to Iraq that would have made military action unnecessary. The Iraqi government thought that could outlast the will of the free world and simply continue to massacre their own people and bully their neighbors.
Certainly the early stages of the war were handled badly by the Bush administration. They underestimated the number of troops needed, in the face of their own military advisers. They overestimated the ability of the leaders of sectarian factions to work together for a common good and they underestimated the will of foreign governments and organizations to turn Iraq into a propaganda piece against the United States. All of this resulted in an unnecessary number of civilian casualties. Not That I believe fewer would have died had Saddam Hussein and his homicidal sons remained in power.
Even the Pope believes that it is now the responsibility of the United States to stay in Iraq until stability is brought to that country. Leaving precipitately and creating a power vacuum would only result in even more civilian deaths and a long term regional problem.
As can be seen this is a complex situation as opposed to abortion, which is always a grave evil.
I would like to add to Ms Reibel Moore’s comment by asking, just how much will the Republican Party actually do in the anti-abortion cause? It is, of course, very important to the Party to maintain the Pro-Life voter block, but if they actually do any more than throw that voting block the occasional legislative bone, they surely know that the Party will loose the support of moderate Republican voters. Remember, the majority of Republicans do not vote for that party b/c of the abortion issue. The Party knows that, and so they legislate judiciously. I believe there is at least an extent to which we Romans who vote solely based on the abortion issue are voting irresponsibly.
Let me ask this: If Roe vs. Wade had never happened, how many of us would be voting Republican now? It surprises me the Republican Party-apologetics we Catholics will engage in when the real reason for most of our Republican votes is abortion. It is certainly worthwhile for us to ask ourselves just what the Republican Party is really going to do for the Pro-Life voters, other than count our votes in November.
Susan
I suggest you read the book John James mentioned above by Archbishop Chaput, the Capuchin Franciscan Archbishop of Denver. “Render unto Caesar.” You will find the answer there, and it’s a quick read.
As Mr. James states above, “game on”! Sen. McCain’s energizing Vice-Presidential pick tells us that he gets it.
For our friends in Australia, Canada, and other nations who read this fine journal - I think you will see America renewed with her old energy during this campaign.
Mr. Lilley wrote a fine piece that outlines the Catholic issue here in America. The old ethnically-oriented Catholic voter paradigm that the elites seem to think is the way to win that vote, is slowly giving way to a vibrant faith that wants to have more and more to say to and in the American culture.
This is a wonderfully judicious and informed piece. Thank you, MercatorNet.
I have only one curious (in the Lewis Carroll sense?!) addition on the subject of Catholic voters: Life Issues, usually defined today in the political sphere by Catholics and non-Catholics as those to do with abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, and marriage, don’t usually include the issue of war and the enormous loss of life basic to it.
Obama, as we all should know, was against the Iraq war before it began. So was John Paul II, who--near the end of his life--battled valiantly and fruitlessly on the subject. In Australia, a marvellous short piece on Just Wars, in keeping with the Holy Father’s strictures then, was published by the Catholic Adult Education Centre’s director, Fr John Flader.
John Kerry was not an early opponent of this war, but Howard Dean was.
So: WHICH Democrats, on what issues, are Catholics meant to support?! We should know what most Republicans favour in relation to the Iraq war and other possible or projected wars with Axis of Evil rogue States.
What will keep the world safest? What will best preserve life? Who is game to say?
As I write, the pro-life movement around the world, not least the American part of the movement, is awaiting the decision by the Republican nominee to choose his VP candidate.
The furore around Barack Obama’s remarks at Saddleback combined with the foolish comments by the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on ‘Meet the Press’, is building steadily and if McCain is wise and chooses a solid pro-life candidate, with good voting record and ‘public persona’ then it is game on in this Presidential race. McCain should be getting thumped since , to borrow an Australian sporting metaphor, he is “kicking into the wind”, given the state of the US economy under the current Republican administration, but the pro-life movement is mobilising and the foolish statements by leading Democrats are just fuelling the pro-life ‘fire’ with prominent Catholic bishops now publicly buying into the argument and Charles Chaput, ironically Archbishop of Denver ( talk about picking the wrong city for your convention! ) publishing his book ‘Render unto Caesar’ in which he reminds Catholics of their obligations and responsibilities in the political process, particularly when seeking public office.
I hope every Australian bishop gets a copy and digests the contents slowly, preferably while sitting before the Blessed Sacrament and talking with the author of Life.
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