US: Five Things We Know About the Catholic Vote (via Catholic Advocate)

By Deal W. Hudson
The polling results released by the New York Times last week do not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the recent history of the Catholic vote.

The NYTs poll found that the percentage of self-identified Catholics favoring GOP candidates has risen 34% since the 2008 election.
In fact, Catholic voters moved the most toward the GOP among all the groups being polled, including women, college graduates, independents, West region, 30-44 year olds, suburbanites, and families with under a $50,000 income.

Catholics are a powerful swing vote in American politics, but that dynamism is easily misunderstood.

Between 1999 and 2004, as Chair of Catholic Outreach at the RNC, I led an effort that successfully helped to move 15% of self-identified Catholic voters from supporting the Democratic presidential candidate to voting for the Republican, in this case, George W. Bush. (In 1996, Dole won 37% of Catholics compared to 52% of Catholics who voted for Bush in 2004.)....

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