important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
(snip)"More, as promised, on Senator Joe Biden (why should Sarah Palin get all the coverage?). Remember, you read it here first: on September 11 this blog reported a mounting backlash from Catholic bishops against Biden, Barack Obama's "Catholic" pro-abortion running mate. At that time I estimated eight bishops had come out to denounce Biden; the total is now 55. Beyond that, Biden is being trashed across every state of the Union by Catholic newspapers, TV and radio stations, and blogs. It is a tsunami of rejection.
The story has now hit the secular media. Last Saturday Time magazine asked: "Does Biden Have a Catholic Problem?" By Wednesday the issue had moved onto the front page of the New York Times. Joe the Jinx has blown it, big time. Biden has only himself to blame: he started this war, with his notoriously undisciplined mouth. He knew the dangers. Last August, Archbishop Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St Louis and now Prefect of the Apostolic Segnatura in Rome, said communion should be denied to pro-abortion politicians "until they have reformed their lives".
Archbishop Chaput of Denver had already announced Biden should not receive communion because of his pro-abortion views. Defiantly, Biden took communion in his home parish in Delaware in late August. On September 2 the Bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania (a crucial swing state) banned him from communion in his diocese. That is effective excommunication. Then came the crucial provocation. On NBC's Meet the Press programme on September 7 Biden grossly misrepresented the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion and audaciously cited St Thomas Aquinas in his own cause.
That did it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had already done the same thing on the same programme, in her instance citing St Augustine. Even the torpid US bishops could not have false doctrine glibly broadcast by public figures, misleading their flock. So the counterattack described here last week began, culminating in a statement from the US Bishops' Conference. The bishops of Kansas City have also issued a pastoral letter on the subject. It is open season on Biden.
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."(snip)
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Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
The Catholic church is just bitter that they don't get to run the planet anymore. LOL!
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pan Dah
Any readily available statistics on how many million of those are divorced, use birth control, engage in non-marital sex and/or have had, or at least support the right to have, an abortion?
I also wonder how many people, Roman Catholic or not, would share Paris' view of the Hierarchy's heavy handed approach to the issue and support Biden as a backlash.
Divorce is not a problem. It is remarrying after divorce.
Catholics use birth control and engage in pre-marital or non-marital sex, but would ceertainly view abortion more seriously than those issues.
The Catholic Church is a lot like America, there are liberal wings and conservative wings, each with their own agendas. It seems the conservative wing wants to be heard now but the liberal wing also speaks out about illegal immigration. A lot of what they decide to do is driven by $$$.
Either way, there are rumors about Biden stepping aside for Hillary when ( if?) it becomes apparent Obama cannot win without her.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pan Dah
Thank you for reinforcing the obvious point of my post - the 47 million Roman Catholic voters don't exactly comprise one gigantic homogeneous voting bloc.
No, but there are enough of them in that 47 million who might be swayed when the Church speaks out.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
But if they were "good" catholics to begin with, they wouldn't need to be swayed. Pro-Choice Catholics are not suddenly going to switch because they just now learned that Mother Church is against abortion.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bem401
Either way, there are rumors about Biden stepping aside for Hillary when ( if?) it becomes apparent Obama cannot win without her.
I think that you're listening to Rush a bit too much.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
The republicans are behind in every major poll and projected electoral map but all you can come up is a foreign press story about Catholics against Biden . Like the foreign press votes in our elections.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
^^^ actually it probably would be fairer if the foreign press DID vote in US elections, given that members of the US press are on record as supporting Obama / liberal politicians by an 80-20 margin !!! Be that as it may ...
Quote:
No, but there are enough of them in that 47 million who might be swayed when the Church speaks out
the real point here is that, thanks to our electoral college system re presidential elections, if even a tiny percentage of those 47 million Catholic american voters decide to follow the church's position, it could very well cause a projected razor-thin Obama majority vote in swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio etc. to flip in favor of McCain.
here's some fairly non-partisan recent analysis ...
(snip)"Toss-Ups-The Real Deal
CO, MI, NH, NV, OH, PA, VA (89 electoral votes)
Comments: A few of these states are Red or Blue tinged, though not enough for us to have any real confidence yet in a prediction. If you put a gun to our head---and we hope you won't, since that makes us very nervous---we would say Obama will end up carrying MI and PA. These states have such a strong Democratic base that, even with Obama's problems from the primaries, he ought to be able to secure them narrowly. On the other side, we now believe that McCain has a tiny edge in Virginia, despite a large number of new voter registrations that tilt strongly Democratic. Obama is not doing well enough in all of Northern Virginia to overcome strong resistance to his candidacy in more rural parts of the state, especially in the western quarter. This could change, and Obama is better organized in the Old Dominion than any Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976. He has the strong support of Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Senate nominee Mark Warner (D), who is a certain winner, possibly by a wide enough margin to help Obama.
We could argue the other states either way. Obama leads most Colorado polls, but that may be an afterglow of the Democratic Convention that will fade. Similarly, Obama appears to be ahead in New Hampshire, but after the Democratic primary there in January, what fool would believe Granite State polls? All reports suggest a big pick-up in Democratic registration in Nevada, but it's too early to move this one to Obama, given McCain's Arizona address.
Notice we haven't discussed Ohio. We aren't prepared to say that other states won't make the difference this year, but it's more than possible that, for a second straight election, the Buckeye State will essentially choose the next president. There are surveys putting the state in Obama's camp, and others saying it is McCain's. No one is going to call this one until they have to do it.
Time again for our summary electoral math. The totally safe and likely Obama states have 200 Electoral Votes (EVs). For McCain, the similar total is 174 EVs. Add in Iowa, New Mexico, and Wisconsin for Obama and he has 222 EVs. Let's give McCain FL, MO, and NC, and he's up to 227 EVs. If Obama carries MI and PA, he's at 260 (ten votes short), and would need either Ohio or Virginia to win. If he carried Colorado and either NH or NV, Obama could win without OH or VA. And interestingly, Obama could lose CO, OH, and VA, while carrying just NH and NV, and achieve a 269 to 269 tie-that would very likely be resolved in the new U.S. House of Representatives in his favor (given probable Democratic gains coming in the House).
Now, on McCain's side, let's add VA to his 227, and he's at 240, 30 votes short of victory. If McCain falters in any of his Leaning states, he is likely out of the picture. But if he holds them all, his most likely path to victory at that point would be to win OH, CO, and either NH or NV. If he wins only OH and CO, the pro-Obama 269 to 269 tie is back. Should he lose OH but somehow carry PA, he would need only CO to get to 270; both NH and NV could go to Obama without effect.
Does your head hurt? Ours does, so we'll stop for now. But THE MAP will be back a couple more times before November 4th.
Larry J. Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia."(snip)
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Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dirty Ernie
But if they were "good" catholics to begin with, they wouldn't need to be swayed. Pro-Choice Catholics are not suddenly going to switch because they just now learned that Mother Church is against abortion.
Not all of them , but it might not take that great a percentage of them to have an impact. Catholics comprise 255 of the electorate. It could mean a few million votes either way. Speaking as a Catholic, its not an issue the Church speaks out on very much as pertains to election choices.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Richard_Head
I think that you're listening to Rush a bit too much.
Are you a closet "Ditto-Head" ? Don't worry about it. Many Libs are.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
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Originally Posted by
Eric Stoner
Are you a closet "Ditto-Head" ? Don't worry about it. Many Libs are.
No, I can't stomach his BS, just assumed it was more of his idiocy.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dirty Ernie
But if they were "good" catholics to begin with, they wouldn't need to be swayed. Pro-Choice Catholics are not suddenly going to switch because they just now learned that Mother Church is against abortion.
And a lot will be object to Biden's misrepresentation of what the church teaches.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bem401
And a lot will be object to Biden's misrepresentation of what the church teaches.
Nancy Pelosi ran into the same problem, although her history seemed to be correct regarding the Churches changing stance on when life begins, despite the protestations of some in the Church heirarchy.
Unlike Southern Baptists and conservative Christians, I don't find many single-issue Catholic voters. I think you overestimate the weight the Pope carries with alot of people who identify themselves as Catholic in America. However, I'm in the SF Bay Area and alot of religious fervor is tamped down out here.
Re: important Biden story reported in the foreign press ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dirty Ernie
Unlike Southern Baptists and conservative Christians, I don't find many single-issue Catholic voters. I think you overestimate the weight the Pope carries with alot of people who identify themselves as Catholic in America. However, I'm in the SF Bay Area and alot of religious fervor is tamped down out here.
You misunderstood me a bit, I think. I am saying many Catholics will be offended that Biden presumes to speak on what the Church teaches. That is what the Bishops are the most worked up over - his misrepresentation of Church teachings.