Pro-Choice Catholic Biden Fits with New Poll of Catholic Voters

Sen. Barack Obama selected Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate today, in part as an effort to shore up Obama's support among Catholic voters who make up 25 percent of the electorate. While the selection is already being assailed by extremist social conservative Catholic organizations, Biden will have strong appeal to the vast majority of Catholics according to a major new poll released Thursday about Catholic voters.

Steve Waldman, Editor of Beliefnet.com wrote, "he's Catholic enough to appeal to Catholics, pro-life enough to avoid some Church attacks, and pro-choice enough to satisfy Hillary voters."

Biden understands the American value of separating personal faith from public duty in our democracy, and his positions on sexual and reproductive health issues demonstrate that clearly.

Biden is a strong supporter of efforts to increase education and prevention services, including contraception, to prevent unintended pregnancies. While he supports Roe v. Wade, he has taken some heat from pro-choice advocates for his support of a federal ban on late-term abortions, but in doing so, also recognized the judicial activism of the conservatives on the Supreme Court in their decisions in the Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood cases. Biden said on Meet the Press;

They upheld the ban, and then they engaged in what we lawyers call dicta that is frightening. You had an intellectually dishonest rationale for an honest justification for upholding the ban. I know this is going to sound arcane--they blurred the distinction between the government's role in being involved in the first day and the ninth month. They became paternalistic, talking about the court could consider the impact on the mother and keeping her from making a mistake. This is all code for saying, "Here we come to undo Roe v. Wade." What they did is not so much the decision, the actual outcome of the decision, it's what attended the decision that portends for a real hard move on the court to undo the right of privacy. That's what I'm criticizing about the court's decision.

RH Reality Check's Election 2008 page has a detailed primer on Biden's Reproductive Health views, as well as information on the other candidates, including top Senate and House races and Ballot Initiatives.

New Poll on Catholic Voters

Story continues below

advertisement

Biden's moderate views on reproductive health and his Catholic faith could appeal to many Catholic voters, according to a new poll from Catholics for Choice. According to the report;

Seven in ten (70%) of those polled say that the views of Catholic bishops are unimportant to them in deciding for whom to vote and a similarly large proportion (73%) says they believe Catholic politicians are under no religious obligation to vote on issues the way the bishops recommend. Catholic voters show little interest in so-called values issues to help them decide who should be the next president. Instead, they want the next president to focus on improving the economy, ending the war in Iraq and keeping the country safe from terrorism.

"Catholics are listening carefully to what the candidates have to say, but very few are following the dictates of the Catholic bishops when it comes to politics," said Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice. "While Catholic Republicans and Democrats and McCain and Obama voters may disagree on national priorities, majorities of all of these voters strongly agree that Catholics are not obligated to heed the bishops' recommendations," adding that, "Sixty-nine percent of Catholics do not feel obligated to vote against candidates who support abortion. Despite what the US bishops promote, the majority of Catholics disagree with the bishops about a wide range of sexual and reproductive health issues."

The poll went on to say;

On many issues, Catholics tend to mirror the electorate at large. In particular, Catholic voters do not approve of schools teaching abstinence-only programs in schools. Six in ten (64%) oppose requiring high school sex education programs to only teach abstinence. They also believe insurance companies should be required to cover and pharmacists required to sell birth control pills. Three-quarters of Catholics support requiring health insurance plans to cover birth control pills (75%). Nearly eight in ten (78%) oppose allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions.

This poll further demonstrates just how far outside the mainstream of American politics -- and even the views of Catholics in the pews -- anti-choice lobbyists and the far-right fringe social conservatives really are.

The horse-race aspect of the poll showed breakdowns among Catholic voters, prior to the Biden announcement, as follows;

• Obama 42%, McCain 40%, Undecided 17%
• Among White Catholics McCain leads 47% to 37%
• Among Hispanic Catholics, (one-in-six Catholics are Hispanic) Obama leads 61% to 23%
• Catholics 18-34 prefer Obama 47% to 41%
• Women under 45 favor Obama 48% to 37%
• Men under 45 favor McCain 46% to 41%

 

Upping the Ante for Tom Ridge

McCain made it clear he was going to force Obama's hand to select his Veep first. Biden's strong reach into Pennsylvania (born in Scranton, often referred to as the state's third Senator owing to Delaware's proximity and his prominence in the Philadelphia media market), could push McCain one step closer to selecting pro-choice former Governor Tom Ridge. Social conservatives have made it clear that they consider the selection of a pro-choice Republican as a significant slap in the face, but for a McCain campaign trying to assert his long lost maverick image, Obama's move toward Biden may force the Ridge pick. The screams and cries you will hear from social conservatives, if that happens, should be considered the death rattle of any influence by extremist social conservatives in the GOP.

The only other high-powered choice that could satisfy some social conservatives is former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who will not satisfy all of them.

Note on Poll

Because some people will question a poll commissioned by Catholics for Choice, I'm including the methodology description below and will note that during 20 years of working in DC and reading polls on a range of issues from various firms, I have tremendous confidence in the integrity of the firm that conducted this poll.

Poll Methodology: Catholics for Choice commissioned this non-partisan and wide-ranging national survey dealing with both international and domestic issues. From July 8 to July 15, the prominent DC polling firm Belden Russonello & Stewart surveyed 1,033 Catholics who are likely voters in the 2008 presidential election. The survey included an oversample of 200 Latino Catholic likely voters for a total of 295 Latino interviews. The survey has a ±3.1 percentage-point margin of sampling error for a random sample of this size. The margin of error for results of the Hispanic subsample is ±5.7 percentage points. The demographic characteristics of the sample have been weighted statistically to bring age, race and region into their proper proportions for likely Catholic voters based on 2004 exit poll data.

 

 

Comments

[soneill]

I am a practicing Catholic who has very actively supported the Obama candidacy. I felt and feel strongly that he calls for change that Catholics should demand with respect to foreign policy, against preemptive wars, for assistance to the needy and in support of faith based inititiatives. My enthusiasm has been tempered, at least, by the selection of Joe Biden as a running mate. The construct of a so-called "pro-choice Catholic" is very difficult to accept, and the effect of his selection has had the unfortunate result of forcing me to more consciously reassess my support for the Democratic party given its pro-abortion politics. I do believe I will ultimately vote Democratic as a result of my deep opposition to and revulsion from the foreign policies and domestic manipulation of the present administration. But in my heart of hearts, I wish the Democrats would embrace a civil rights cause that is more emblemetic of their traditional support for those without power. That we as a country can rationalize abortion as a matter of mere personal "choice", with consciously repressed regard for the life and rights of the most defenseless, the unborn, may be a democratic phenomenon in the sense that the "majority " gets what they want- easy abortions; but its not "Democratic " in the sense of those ideals of the party which in the past has fought for the oppressed but has now so sadly adapted the "choice" artifice as its political trawling net.

[Tomor]

The National Conference of Bishops issued a statement in 1993 on Catholics for a Free Choice which said:
"Because of its opposition to the human rights of some of the most defenseless members of the human race, and because its purposes and activities deliberately contradict essential teachings of the Catholic faith, we state once again that Catholics for a Free Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic organization."
Frances Kissling. founder of the National Abortion Federation, continued her passion as an enemy of life with Catholics for a Free Choice. She contradicted many of the church teachings earning the facitious title 'Pope Frances".
I am not surprised that CFFC found 70% of 1033 selected likely voters who say that they are not influenced by the "views" of Catholic Bishops. CFFC is attempting to soften up eventual resistance --sort of like an artillery prelude to the actual battle.
However, John Kerry made the mistake of believing this wishful thinking in 2004. Biden's selection as VP by the proaborts may be viewed as a stick in the eye by Catholics whereas a selection of a nonCatholic, proabort as VP might not have been so perceived. We will see if Obama has riled up those 60 million voters on November 4.

[JLee]

Biden's position reminds me of the late great Father Drinan, Catholic priest, Congressman (Barney Frank holds his old seat), and law professor. He was obviously as Roman Catholic as they come, yet despite his personal objection to abortion--which he considered little better than infanticide--he was pro-choice because he firmly believed in the separation of personal morality and public policy, of church and state. It's good to know that many Catholics feel the same way, and it's just one of the many reasons Joe will be good for the ticket.

[AliLiz]

Joe Biden is very good for the ticket and very good for the country. A role model for all. Love his streewise attitude and down to earth views.

The Repubs are mean-spirited and live by 'the end justifies the means'...Joe says the means is important. Why are Catholics caught up with the Repubs? Repubs will do anything to win. I was born, raised, and still am a Catholic...very important to me.

How you get to your goal does matter. McCain does not care how he gets there...anything goes...Obama and Biden care.

[MissDaphne]

otay senator biden.
I am one of those swing voters,

[speeddeeps]

Are the c0nservatives really that influential in the repub party?

[Scott Swenson - Huffpost Blogger]

With smoke and mirrors, yes. The social conservatives have been very adept at working the party apparatus and making their relatively small voting bloc seem larger than it is, and in the process pushed many pro-choice Republicans out. If McCain doesn't choose Ridge or Lieberman, two men he is obviously comfortable with, it will only be because of the social cons, and a signal that McCain has been captured completely by the far-right. I just don't think voters are buying their extremist hype this year, with the economy and so many other issues far more important, but it ultimately gets to how enthusiastic this bloc of voters is about McCain. They've never trusted him.