NY Sun Op/Ed: "Winning the Catholic Vote"

(Hat tip: Custos Fidei)

Seth Gitell writes at The New York Sun:

In an election where most of the attention has been on the Evangelical vote, the group that could help determine the result in the general contest is American Catholics.

Many American Catholics reside in the industrial heartland's swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. They could make the difference for November 2008. In 2000, Vice President Gore barely edged out President Bush for the backing of Catholic voters. In 2004, President Bush beat Senator Kerry for the Catholic vote by 52 to 47.

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It's very possible that many Catholic voters will move back to the Democratic Party on economic grounds and that a strong group of Catholic value voters will see no difference between Mr. Giuliani and the Democratic nominee of the abortion issue. Nevertheless, Mr. Giuliani's advocates maintain that his biography and overall record in New York will enable him to thrive in the areas that are heavily Catholic.

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Given that the polling data suggests Catholics are moving back to voting Democratic in 2008, the question all the Republican candidates ought to be answering is which of these men can attract and retain the Catholic voter, not who can win over Evangelicals.

(emphasis added)

My Comments:
Catholic voters can send a message to the GOP that they will not support Giuliani by signing the Catholics Against Rudy petition.