Greeley Sees Catholics as Key for Democrats
The Democratic Party will not win another presidential election until it begins to recognize its Roman Catholic constituency, according to Father Andrew Greeley, a priest and sociologist who has studied voting trends.
Catholics are more likely than any other single group to choose Democratic candidates for Congress and have been more loyal as a group to Democratic candidates for President. But they have been largely ignored as a voting constituency by the party, Greeley writes in Church magazine.
Greeley, professor of sociology at the University of Arizona and author of popular novels based on Catholic themes, said Catholics tend to vote Democratic even though the Republican Party’s platform is much closer to the position of the Catholic Church on the volatile issue of abortion.
“Catholic leadership has tried to influence Catholic voters on the abortion issue,” writes Greeley, “but has failed miserably.”
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