Evangelicals, Catholics may swing Iowa's vote

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
11/2/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Thirty percent of voters in state identify themselves as evangelicals or Catholic

Iowa's religious faithful are a major political force in the state. Thirty percent of the registered voters there describe themselves as either evangelical or Catholic, and of the 57 percent of the voters who cast ballots in the caucuses this year were evangelical Christians. Many of the faithful here have their reservations for both incumbent President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

It's important to remember that many of Iowa's evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Rick Santorum over Romney in the Iowa caucuses, helping Santorum squeeze out a slight victory in the final count.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Some Catholic voters in Dubuque remain split over issues such as abortion, funding for contraception and same-sex marriage. Many disagree on whether government-run social programs or private charity are the best ways to assist the less fortunate.

Dawn Luekin, a Catholic voter and member of St. Joseph the Worker parish in Dubuque is firm in her support of Romney. "(There are) the life issues which most Catholics hold dear and central to their faith, but then there's this belief that remains that the Democratic Party somehow cares for the poor better. I think it somehow comes down to that tension," she says. The top issues for her and her mother in the election are "life and sanctity of marriage" and both support Romney.

Another Catholic voter, who declined to give her name, admits she said it is hard to reconcile abortion with her religious beliefs but said she is supporting Obama. "I can't bring myself to just vote on that one issue."

It's important to remember that many of Iowa's evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Rick Santorum over Romney in the Iowa caucuses, helping Santorum squeeze out a slight victory in the final count.

Many evangelical Christians in Des Moines say they strongly support Romney, but express a general unease about his moderate history on social issues such as abortion.

"His (Romney's) past positions in terms of abortion or in terms of his record in Massachusetts -- it's not been an easy choice to make either way," Mwasi Mwamba said. Mwamba, who says he has no party affiliation and voted early.

Sheri Hess saying she has a "biblical worldview" plans to vote for Romney this year. She admits his record on social issues concerns her. "He's definitely not a Christian in my view," she said when asked if Romney's Mormon faith plays into her vote.

One evangelical voter, Mike Pike says he won't vote for either candidate and that he's not casting a ballot in a presidential election for the first time in his life. He says that the two non-negotiable issues for him are abortion and the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Obama and Romney, he said, have "failed on both of those." "What a person says and what they do, when they're two different things, I have to go by what they've done so therefore I can't support either candidate in this election."

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Evangelicals, Catholic, Iowa, swing state voters

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

J
7 months ago
The choice is clear!

Obama=more abortion, less religious freedom, assault on traditional marriage, dependency, divisiveness, less respect for constitution.

Romney=less abortion, more religious freedom, protections for traditional marriage, human dignity and confidence through provident living, working together to tackle debt, return to constitution

Christians MUST vote!!
cthlcrg
7 months ago
I don't understand where some of the confusion on the life issues comes from. Doesn't it seem that a President with the following record needs to be stopped?:
1) As an Illinois state senator, Barack OBAMA VOTED 4 TIMES AGAINST the BORN ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT
2) As Senator, Mr. Obama voted against the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would have notified parents when their kids crossed state lines to have an abortion
3) Senator Obama voted NO on preventing minors from crossing state lines for an abortion
4) Mr. Obama amazingly opposed a bill that would have prevented parial birth abortion
5) President Obama gave hundreds of millions of federal dollars to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider
6) The Obama Administration rescinded a Bush regulation that would have protected providers from being punished for refusing to participate in abortions
Also, President Obama selected 2 pro-abortion judges (Kagan and Sotomayor) to the Supreme Court.
Needless to say, the National Right-To-Life Committe rated Mr. Obama 0% pro-life, and NARAL rated Mr. Obama 100% pro-choice.
vance
7 months ago
I sure hope Catholics everywhere will wake up and vote out Obama who is attacking our church.
putupjob
7 months ago
One of the nations top pollsters, Ed Goeas of Battleground Poll fame, said today that no president has ever been elected without carrying the Catholic vote.

The Catholic vote (and a huge turnout by evangelicals) will sink the obama campaign and Romney will rise to easily win the 2012 election.

Romney will roll back all the Obama mandates on religious freedom.

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