Democrats look to woo Catholic voters

Democrats who are seeking to woo Catholics back into the party fold have one big stumbling block to overcome. The National Catholic Reporter tells us that after losing the once reliable Catholic vote in the last few election cycles, the Democrats are gearing up to win us back. According to the article, they’re even beginning to recognize that the hostility toward pro-lifers shown by the party is a problem for them.

It’s the latest indication, say some observers, that Democrats have learned a key lesson of John Kerry’s failed 2004 presidential campaign. “I’m very encouraged that the Democratic Party seems more open and amendable to being inclusive and welcoming to pro-life Democrats like me,” said Raymond Flynn, former mayor of Boston and Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the Vatican. “They’ve been far more receptive this year than anytime I can recall.”

“The last cycle was a wake-up call,” said Leslie Brown, coordinator of the national committee’s “faith in action” effort. “When you lose [the Catholic vote] with a Catholic candidate then you’ve got to go back” and address the problem, she said.

I’m sorry, but where is the evidence that the party is more inclusive and welcoming to pro-lifers? Because they’re not pushing them out the back door anymore? The fact remains that keeping abortion legal is a major plank in the party’s platform. It’s not for nothing that we call it the Party of Death and the Evil Party. Whatever efforts party officials make to tell pro-lifers that it’s okay to belong to the party of Roe, the rank-and-file liberal Democrats will never stand for anything that sounds like a softening of the abortion ideology.

That’s not to say that Republicans have the pro-life Catholic vote sewn up either.

Taking pro-life Catholics for granted

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