Newspapers Examine Catholic, Evangelical Support for Presidential Candidates

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 03 Nov 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The Christian Science Monitor, Washington Times and Boston Globe on Thursday examined Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian support for presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Summaries appear below.

~Boston Globe: Catholic bishops' recent moves to condemn abortion "in ever stronger language ... reflects an increasing concern about a new argument posed by some antiabortion intellectuals and organizations: that the legislative battle to outlaw abortion is hopeless and that antiabortion groups would be better off devoting themselves to preventing unwanted pregnancies and persuading women to carry their fetuses to term rather than trying to change the laws of the land," the Globe reports.

Nicholas Cafardi, a legal scholar at Duquesne University who has held several important Catholic Church positions, has argued that even if Roe v. Wade were overturned, many states would not choose to ban abortion outright. Cafardi resigned from the board of a conservative Catholic university after he publicly supported Obama. A group called Catholic Democrats has posted on its Web site that Democrats would do a better job to reduce abortions, while another group, Catholics United, has asked Catholics through a direct-mail campaign to rethink what it means to be "pro-life." Other Catholic groups have undertaken similar campaigns on the abortion issue.

According to recent polls, Catholics are increasingly moving to support Obama in the presidential race and evangelical Christians also are becoming more supportive of an Obama presidency, despite the candidate's support for abortion rights (Paulson, Boston Globe, 10/30).

~Christian Science Monitor: Although a presidential candidate's position on abortion rights has served as a litmus test for Catholic voters in past elections, some Catholics during this year's campaign have worked to "broaden the political agenda to more fully reflect the church's social teaching and its emphasis on promoting the common good," the Monitor reports. According to the Monitor, the creation of new organizations, such as Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, as well as the endorsement of Obama by several high-profile Catholics, reflect efforts to urge the demographic "to consider candidates' positions on a wide range of societal issues," including war, health care, the environment and poverty. Furthermore, a possible change in the church's position on how its followers vote is indicated in this year's election guidelines by U.S. bishops, which call abortion "an intrinsic evil" that must be opposed but do not condemn voting for a candidate that supports abortion rights.

Nevertheless, the Monitor reports that a few conservative bishops "have attacked the efforts to broaden the agenda and support abortion-rights candidates" and that many Catholics would like bishops "to rein in their outspoken colleagues, who they feel have crossed a line into partisanship."

Catholics make up 25% of the population and are a key demographic in several battleground states this election, according to the Monitor. Since 1972, they have voted overall for Republicans five times and Democrats four times, and they have always chosen the leading candidate (Lampman, Christian Science Monitor, 10/30).

~Washington Times: The article examines how many social conservatives and religious voters, particularly younger ones, are giving their support to McCain because of his opposition to abortion rights, the Times reports. A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll of voter attitudes, released last week, showed that two-thirds of Catholics and white evangelical Protestants of all ages oppose funding abortion services for low-income women overseas and that 70% of all evangelicals -- with slightly larger majorities among those younger than age 30 -- believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

The Times also examines McCain's and Obama's positions on abortion rights, embryonic stem cell research and comments they have made throughout the campaign (Duin, Washington Times, 10/30).

Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Thursday reported on why some antiabortion Catholics are supporting Obama (Bradley Hagerty, "Morning Edition," NPR, 10/30).

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