Catholics for Catholicism

Here's an interesting piece from The Telegraph that speculates how Obama's selection of the "Catholic" Joe Biden might actually cost him Catholic votes. The article notes how a growing cadre of US Bishops are displaying renewed virility in slamming the band of Catholics for a Free Choice politicos like Biden, Pelosi, et al. Some of the comments are funny: "Go back to the Middle Ages, again, you Catholics..." Ah, the British!

There are 47 million Catholic voters in the United States. One quarter of all registered voters are Catholics. At every presidential election in the past 30 years the Catholic vote has gone to the winning candidate, except for Al Gore in 2000. This year 41 per cent of Catholics are independents - up from 30 per cent in 2004. Psephologists claim practising Catholics were the decisive factor in the crucial swing states in 2004: in Ohio 65 per cent of Catholics voted for Bush, in Florida 66 per cent. They were drifting away in disillusionment from the Republicans and split 50-50, until Joe Biden worked his magic. This is electoral suicide by the Democrats.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2008/09/19/joe_biden_loses_barack_obama_the_catholic_vote