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New Poll: Catholics More Likely to Think America Is on the 'Wrong Track'

by Joshua Mercer 

A year after the president’s controversial commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, American Catholic attitudes toward Barack Obama have shifted significantly.

Pollster John Zogby released a poll this month that compared Catholics with the rest of the general population. Among his findings:

• “Catholics are more likely to believe the country is on the wrong track.” Americans in general believe this to be true. Only 38% of Americans think our country is moving in the right direction, whereas 53% believe we’re on the wrong track. But among Catholics, the outlook is bleaker: Only 27% of Catholics believe our country is going in the right direction, while 68% believe we’re on the wrong track.

• “Catholics are more likely to disapprove of Obama’s job performance than the general population.” The general population gave Obama a 49% approval/50% disapproval rating. Among Catholics, Obama’s favorable rating was a mere 34%, with 66% of Catholics disapproving of his performance.

• “Catholics are more likely to not support Congress’s recent healthcare reform act.” 53% of Americans do not support the recent healthcare reform act, while 43% do. But Catholics dislike the healthcare law even more. 66% of Catholics oppose the law, while a meager 33% of Catholics support it.

• “Catholics are more likely to say they’ll vote for Republican candidates in 2010.” Asked who they would vote for in 2010, 42% of the general population preferred Republican with 38% siding with the Democrats – a 4 point advantage for the GOP. (3% said neither and 17% were not sure). Among Catholics, the Republican advantage was 27 points: 54% of Catholics said they would vote Republican, while 27% preferred the Democrats, with 5% saying neither and 14% not sure. 

These polling numbers have to be troubling for the Obama White House and the Democratic Party as a whole.

After all, despite having a firm record of supporting abortion while serving in the Senate, Barack Obama won 53% of the Catholic vote in the 2008 campaign. It proved critical to him in winning swing states like Ohio.

The Catholic vote is considered the most important swing vote in American politics. Since 1976, the candidate that won the Catholic vote became president every time save one. The only exception was 2000 – when Al Gore won the popular vote but ultimately lost in the Electoral College.

The administration’s commitment to abortion cannot have helped its standing among Catholics. In his first week of office, Obama opened up foreign aid to organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions. Just a few months later, he rescinded the Bush administration’s restrictions limiting embryonic-destructive research. These early actions set a pattern of abortion promotion by the Obama administration.

Likewise, when President Obama first proposed an overhaul of the health care industry, he claimed that there would be no federal funding of abortion in his reform plan. Yet the year-long debate came to a head over that very issue, which very nearly caused the demise of the entire bill. President Obama’s refusal to simply remove all abortion language from the bill likely cost him support from Catholics, who are more pro-life than the general population.

As the data from Zogby’s polling suggests, Catholic independents who put Obama in office are apparently having buyer’s remorse. This November, the Catholic vote is very much up for grabs, and whoever wins it will likely control Congress next year.

Where does that leave us? In a timely message, Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke on the need for an authentic Christian presence in politics among politicians and non-politicians alike, as Christians exercise their civic duties and actively participate in defending life and families, caring for the needy and promoting the common good.

“We must recover and reinvigorate authentic political wisdom,” the pope told members of the Pontifical Council of the Laity, “going beyond any kind of ideological reductionism or utopian dream.”

“What is needed,” he concluded, “is a true ‘revolution of love.’”

With media outlets churning the story of an election year marked by “voter discontent,” and the Zogby poll suggesting that Catholics especially seem to match that description, let’s take our Holy Father’s words to heart.

Political stands and the swinging pendulum of public opinion will change every electoral cycle, but the need for consciences shaped by Christian formation, and for a dedication to principles rooted in charity and truth, will always remain – no matter what party holds power.

Joshua Mercer is Director of Communications and co-founder of CatholicVoteAction.org, a grassroots organization that provides a voice in politics for hundreds of thousands of lay Catholics. Previously, he served as Chairman of Students for Life of America and also Washington Correspondent for the National Catholic Register. Joshua lives with his wife Lori and three children in Michigan.

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The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.