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Your vote and
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WWW.CATHOLIC
VOTER.US |
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When you go into
that voting booth, remember you are a Catholic before you are a Democrat or a
Republican. Vote your Catholic values. |
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The Catholic vote is the largest swing vote in the United States. Catholics make up
about 25 % of the population and 29 % of U.S. voters. No candidate for state
or national office can win election without a significant portion of this vote. What is a Swing
Vote A swing vote is a vote that can swing either way; Democrat or Republican or Independent. Depending on the size of this swing vote, it can be very important in elections. Let’s take an example. Suppose John Doe, on the Democrat ticket, has 40 % of the total vote while Jim Smith, on the Republican ticket has 40 % also. This means that the remaining 20 % of the voters will decide the election. This is the swing vote. Depending on which way it goes, i.e. for Doe or for Smith, it will decide who wins the election. This is the position of the Catholic vote; it can decide elections. A United Catholic
Vote Some people look upon the Catholic vote as a fragmented vote. They see a Hispanic vote, an Irish Catholic vote, an Italian Catholic vote, a Polish Catholic vote, and on and on to other ethnic groups. For a long time, these votes were taken for granted by the Democratic Party since most of these voters were blue collar workers, often union members, and often part of machine politics in large cities such as New York, Boston and Chicago. However the picture is different now. The blue collar workers had children who went to college, and moved up to the middle class and the professional ranks. These voters are better educated, have higher incomes and are more selective in their voting habits than their parents were. A united Catholic vote includes descendants of Hispanic, Irish, Italian, Polish and other ethnic groups. These are the groups that made up much of the mass emigrations to the United States. Initially these groups faced much bigotry and discrimination. But now, these groups are coming of age; they no longer need to accept bigotry and discrimination because of their religious beliefs and values. When we look at other religious voter groups, we find that they are not fragmented. If we look at the Jewish vote – and I speak here with admiration – we do not see a fragmented vote. One does not hear of German Jewish voters, Russian Jewish voters, Hungarian Jewish voters, etc. ; it is one solid, organized Jewish vote, much to the credit of our Jewish brethren. And, it is an organized vote, a vote that represents a significant vote in national, state and local elections. This is the way the Catholic vote should be too. If this were to be the case, we would not see a picture of the Blessed Mother smeared with dung hanging in the Brooklyn (NY) Museum – and at taxpayer’s expense. Catholics
must vote – put their ethnic differences aside – and vote as
Catholics, for Catholic ideals, principles, and values. We must vote as a UNITED
CATHOLIC VOTE
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