The Catholic vote
Droel, William M. & Pierce, Gregory F.
fight for my right to vote, but I do have to fight for as much of the dollar as my male colleagues earn. I have to fight against the promotion offered to him over me and other women staf- fers;...
...President Reagan bases his "mandate" on his lopsided Electoral College triumph --489 to Carter's 49 votes.9 But the popular election was much closer.9 Reagan received less than I percent more of the vote than John Kennedy did in his 1960 "clifthanger" victory...
...The bond she has created with the female voting public is something no man could have done...
...The linchpin of the Republican strategy to attract Catholic voters, though, is the president's frequent championing of the "social issues...
...Ferraro's mag- netism affirmed every woman in Moscone Center and every woman in the TV audience...
...7 September 1984:455...
...On the other hand, they are not the only issues on which Catholics will have to base their vote...
...Election '84 THE CATHOLIC VOTE ALL THE ISSUES THAT FIT W HAT WEIGHT Catholics assign the so-called "social issues" may well be the decisive factor in a close presidential election this November...
...If the Republicans are able to repeat their 1980 performance among Catholics, Ronald Reagan will be in the White House for another four years...
...Although they do not vote as a bloc, Catholics do comprise 25 percent of the electorate...
...At that historic moment I was sure that behind Ferraro stood my own Grandmother McGinty, a proud and gallant soul, her head cocked to one side, two large brown eyes smiling victori- ously from under the brim of her large, floppy hat...
...From the Sharpsburg suffragette and her tireless co-workers around the nation, to the Representative of Queens and her spirited supporters, indeed...
...Indeed, we have only begun to address the issue of sexism...
...they were acknowledgments of kinship.Every woman could say: "I have made it...
...The issues of employ- ment, care for the poor and elderly, military spending, civil fights, and peace are also important to all people of good will...
...Now will come the fights that should have come with the fight to vote...
...This strategy has not been without its rewards...
...Confer- ence of Catholic Bishops, and singled out Franciscan Father Bruce Ritter of New York's Covenant House as one of Ameri- ca's heroes...
...In recent months, Presi- dent Reagan has restored full diplomatic relations with the Vatican, appointed a special staff liaison to the U.S...
...Each of these five states has a large Catholic population: Massachusetts 51 percent, New York 35 percent, Wisconsin 32 percent, Pennsylvania 31 percent, and Ohio 21 percent...
...There is some evidence that this Catholic crossover was critical in Reagan's victory...
...More than any male leader in our country, Geraldine Ferraro knows this...
...The potential of such a pivotal Catholic vote has not gone unnoticed by Republican strategists...
...Presently a member of the lnterreligious Task Force on Central America, she has written for Today's Parish, Sisters Today, Columbia, and other magazines...
...The eyes that swelled with pride as they looked at Ferraro were not eyes of personal adulation...
...against the professional membership extended to him to the exclusion of me...
...The appeal by Reagan and other politicians to the social issues is not, as some commentators say, an improper mix of poli~cs and religion.9 The issues of abortion, tuition subsidy, the Equal Rights Amendment, and prayer in public places are important issues and should be of concern to religious people...
...In 1976, all cast their electoral votes for Carter...
...In 1976, 54 percent of Catholics voted for the Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter...
...It is conceivable, then, that the swing votes in November 1984 will come from cities like Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee...
...Together these five states represent 118 electoral votes .9...
...Catholic Conference, composed of forty-eight bishops, recently issued a major statement -- Political Responsibility: Choices for the 1980's calling on Catholics to consider "the full range of issues" when choosing a public official...
...the torch has been passed...
...In 1980, one of every four of those Democratic Catholics crossed over and voted for either Inde- pendent John Anderson or Republican Ronald Reagan...
...against the disclosure of my finances to the protection of his...
...Reagan conveniently crossed paths with Pope John Paul II in Alaska~ welcomed several bishops to the White House, and visited a Hoboken, N.J., parish...
...The administrative board of the U.S...
...In 1980, they all switched to Rea- gan...
...Not a week goes by when Reagan doesn't reiterate his support for prayer in the public schools, opposi- tion to abortion, and a return to the Bible and traditional family values...
...The crossover from Democrat to Repfiblican in these states in 1980 occurred predominantly in the urban/ethnic centers -territory usually associated with a large percentage of Catho- lics...
...Her arm was extended and a shadowy past, challenged yet rebuffed, ignored yet repulsed, was once and for all illuminated...
...For example, Reagan recently received the Medal of Distinction from the New York State Federation of Catholic School Par- ents for his efforts to pass tuition tax-credit legislation, and was praised by the newly-appointed archbishop of New York during the ceremony "for his forthright and courageous stand for the rights of the unborn...
...almost half of what is needed to be elected or reelected president of the United States...
...And they are among the most vulnerable to an emotional appeal on these genuine concerns...
...MARYANN FLANNERY (Mary Ann Flannery, a doctoral student in communications at Kent State University, has served on many national and local committees dealing with peace and justice issues in the American church...
...Many elements will determine the 1984 winner, but con- sider for a moment the states of Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin...
Vol. 111 • September 1984 • No. 15
