RELIGION SCHOLAR BLOGGER ASKS HOW WILL CATHOLICS VOTE IN 2012 ?............

Stephen Prothero, a Religion Scholar at Boston University in Massachusetts, USA, who is a recurring writer on the CNN "Belief Blog", recently authored a blog column on the voting patterns of American Catholics over the past thirty to forty years, and asks, How will Catholics vote in 2012 based on past presidential elections and current demographics.  Citing an official from the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, (ASARB) he shares that although 6 out of 9 U.S. Supreme Court Justices are now Catholic = 66.7%; that the State with largest number of Catholics is Massachusetts, with 44.9%; followed by Rhode Island, with 44.3%; New Jersey, with 36.8%; Connecticut, with 35.1%; and New York, 32.4% Catholic.  The seven lowest Catholic States percentage wise are Southern States, with Tennessee, with a Catholic population of only 3.5%; having the fewest.  The ASARB denographic map currently also finds the number of Counties in the United States where a particular Christian religious denomination is predominate is all but equally split bwtween Catholics, and Southern Baptists, with 1,231 Catholic Counties; and 1,217 Southern Baptist Counties; with the distant third most predominate denomination being the 244 First United Methodist Counties.  However, the predominance in presence is far more expansive for Catholics beyond the lonstanding strongholds of New England, New York / New Jersey, and the Southwest, they also are prominently numbered in the Pacific Northwest and in the Midwest, whereas Southern Baptists are primarily concentrated in the South.  Until forty years ago the Catholic Vote for President in the United States was overwhelming Democratic.  Since then it has been diversified breaking for Nixon in 1972; Carter in 1976; Reagan in 1980 & 1984; George H W Bush in 1988; Clinton in 1992 & 1996; George W. Bush in 2000 & 2004; ( Kerry being Catholic) and for Obama in 2008; (by 54%-45%).  Catholic voters in crucial swing states may well determine whether President Obama is relected, or if Governor Romney prevails.  Ohio and New Mexico are two of those swing States.  Both narrowly voted for Obama four years ago.  Whether they will vote for the Protestant Obama again over the Mormon Romney is uncertain.  On Primary Day 2012 in Ohio, even as Romney was winning it, 22% of Ohio voters polled said they will not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate versus 7% who say they will not vote for a Catholic.  In New Mexico with an increasing Latino population that would traditionally favor Obama, what affect his gay marriage, immigration exception, and health care mandate, positions in 2012, will take on their votes may indeed be a determining factor in deciding how Catholics there vote for President and help decide who occupies the White House for the next four years, in November............Fr.  Troy