And who is more natural?
Recently Ryan Anderson wrote in the Weekly Standard that while a number of Catholics have been waxing rhapsodic about Barack Obama's appeal, it seems to have gone unnoticed that John McCain is running on an astonishingly Catholic platform. Nearly every time he ventures off the conservative plantation, he moves in the direction of liberal Catholic politics. Could this translate into votes in the fall?
Despite the enthusiasm of his Catholic fans, Obama consistently ran behind Hillary Clinton among Catholic Democrats. Just 30 percent voted for him in Pennsylvania, for instance, even with the backing of the state's premier pro-life Democrat, Senator Bob Casey Jr. According to one of Obama's Catholic advisers, Notre Dame professor Cathy Kaveny, Obama "has been slowly but steadily gaining ground among Catholics, as they come to see who he is and what he stands for." She argues that many Catholic voters will respond "to his vision of the common good"--in particular "ending the unjust war in Iraq, providing decent jobs, ensuring affordable health care for all, and working for comprehensive immigration reform." Earlier this spring, Doug Kmiec, a pro-life Catholic who served under Reagan and George H.W. Bush and was a Romney adviser, said, "Sorry, McCain," but "Barack Obama is a natural for the Catholic vote."
Yet Obama's troubles winning actual Catholic voters in the Democratic primaries suggest he might have problems in the general election--unsurprising, perhaps, given what Nat Hentoff has described as Obama's "extremism" on the abortion issue. Obama has opposed every effort to protect unborn human life, including the Supreme Court's upholding of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Obama even voted against an anti-infanticide bill to protect the lives of babies who survive an abortion and are born alive. Though he claims to be against same-sex marriage, he announced that he "respects the decision of the California Supreme Court" decreeing same-sex marriage for that state. Meanwhile, his statements on the judiciary make it clear that his judges will not be in the mold of Roberts and Alito (he voted against both in their Senate confirmation hearings).
The contrast with McCain is stark. And yet McCain has had his own Catholic problems. Rick Santorum, the posterboy for conservative Catholic causes, argued during the primaries that McCain was no social conservative. Though Santorum later endorsed McCain ("With the exception of embryonic stem-cell funding, he always voted for life and stood for the culture of life"), there is still some nervousness among social-issues voters. McCain's widely reported speech on May 15, in which he laid out hopes for his first term, for example, contained no mention of abortion or marriage. But McCain has come out in favor of the California state marriage amendment, and the judges he'd appoint to the Supreme Court wouldn't impose same-sex marriage on the nation nor strike down restrictions on abortion.
If at the end of the day Obama and McCain more or less fit into the standard political alignments for the left and right on the standard social issues, where will the debate go on the new moral wedges? Consider the issues liberal Catholics have recently championed in opposition to conservative politicians: the war, torture, immigration, and the environment. But more importantly, who is gayer and queerer for the LGBT, you and me?
Recently Ryan Anderson wrote in the Weekly Standard that while a number of Catholics have been waxing rhapsodic about Barack Obama's appeal, it seems to have gone unnoticed that John McCain is running on an astonishingly Catholic platform. Nearly every time he ventures off the conservative plantation, he moves in the direction of liberal Catholic politics. Could this translate into votes in the fall?
Despite the enthusiasm of his Catholic fans, Obama consistently ran behind Hillary Clinton among Catholic Democrats. Just 30 percent voted for him in Pennsylvania, for instance, even with the backing of the state's premier pro-life Democrat, Senator Bob Casey Jr. According to one of Obama's Catholic advisers, Notre Dame professor Cathy Kaveny, Obama "has been slowly but steadily gaining ground among Catholics, as they come to see who he is and what he stands for." She argues that many Catholic voters will respond "to his vision of the common good"--in particular "ending the unjust war in Iraq, providing decent jobs, ensuring affordable health care for all, and working for comprehensive immigration reform." Earlier this spring, Doug Kmiec, a pro-life Catholic who served under Reagan and George H.W. Bush and was a Romney adviser, said, "Sorry, McCain," but "Barack Obama is a natural for the Catholic vote."
Yet Obama's troubles winning actual Catholic voters in the Democratic primaries suggest he might have problems in the general election--unsurprising, perhaps, given what Nat Hentoff has described as Obama's "extremism" on the abortion issue. Obama has opposed every effort to protect unborn human life, including the Supreme Court's upholding of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Obama even voted against an anti-infanticide bill to protect the lives of babies who survive an abortion and are born alive. Though he claims to be against same-sex marriage, he announced that he "respects the decision of the California Supreme Court" decreeing same-sex marriage for that state. Meanwhile, his statements on the judiciary make it clear that his judges will not be in the mold of Roberts and Alito (he voted against both in their Senate confirmation hearings).
The contrast with McCain is stark. And yet McCain has had his own Catholic problems. Rick Santorum, the posterboy for conservative Catholic causes, argued during the primaries that McCain was no social conservative. Though Santorum later endorsed McCain ("With the exception of embryonic stem-cell funding, he always voted for life and stood for the culture of life"), there is still some nervousness among social-issues voters. McCain's widely reported speech on May 15, in which he laid out hopes for his first term, for example, contained no mention of abortion or marriage. But McCain has come out in favor of the California state marriage amendment, and the judges he'd appoint to the Supreme Court wouldn't impose same-sex marriage on the nation nor strike down restrictions on abortion.
If at the end of the day Obama and McCain more or less fit into the standard political alignments for the left and right on the standard social issues, where will the debate go on the new moral wedges? Consider the issues liberal Catholics have recently championed in opposition to conservative politicians: the war, torture, immigration, and the environment. But more importantly, who is gayer and queerer for the LGBT, you and me?