Prof. Blais has also found that the more the voter practises Catholicism, the more likely he or she is to vote Liberal. The most religious Catholics are the Liberals' strongest supporters. Liberal support among them is 19 points higher than overall Liberal support, compared to 12 points higher for "non-religious" Catholics.
...
What's going on? Damned if Prof. Blais knows. If he doesn't, what about the rest of us? After a thorough investigation, Prof. Blais concedes: "Why Catholics vote Liberal is still largely a mystery, at least for me. I propose the creation of a special prize for the individual or team that solves the mystery."
This is just cannon fodder for the long winded with little to do... In other words me (well I have something to do I just don't want to do it). Might as well take a stab at this one - Every other tom dick and harry will be anyways.
Most devout Catholics, If I had to take a guess, don't really see themselves as Conservative or Liberal. They just really don't think it's too important. At least historically I don't think so. Today, people talk about the sleeping giant of social conservatism, and I have to agree it does exist - but there are some things people don't realize.
The first is that there are fair number of so-called social conservatives, that are fiscally liberal. I bet I could get good odds that those people are mostly devout Catholics, but I'm betting they include a fair number of other Christian denominations as well.
They have them down in Yankeetown USA too. As the issue of the last election focused on Morality, instead of the War in Iraq, many of these people voted for Bush in spite of his Economic or Security agenda. Many of these people were agains the War in Iraq, didn't neccessarily like the Bush tax cut, but they voted for him anyway.
Confused yet?
Well up here in Canuckistan, we tend to be more Liberal than our American brethren. I think I've met very few devout Catholics that would identify themselves as being fiscally Conservative. All express loyalty to the Magestrum, and believe in Papal authority. Pretty much on the moral side of things they are all against SSM, and pro-life regardless of what label they use to identify themselves. Although I get the feeling, that most, if not all want the government involved more in our lives, or at least more than most Libertarians.
Of course there are exceptions to this, but most generally that's been my impression so far. There is nothing wrong with it, you can very well be a Liberal and be Catholic, and Christian. I think they are wrong, and are making a bad choice, but I can't force people to make the right decision. Either way, they have that soft spot for the social gospel side of things... Giving aid to the poor, helping those in need with the public purse...
That's why they vote Liberal. The election issue has never been morality. The issue is always Healthcare, or some sort of social program.
But something has changed. Same Sex Marriage has awoken many of those Catholics that just didn't get involved. It has also knocked the wind out of those that regularly vote Liberal or NDP. Gone are the days of the Social Gospel with Tommy Douglas... There are no more prominent left wing evangelicals. The left, in this country has completely exercised themselves of people of faith in an inquisition styled frenzy of anti-religious bigotry.
It has freaked out a lot of people in the Conservative Party. As some of these Liberal Catholics have already started to migrate over, factions are struggling to maintain control. Some call these new members "obsessed with gay marriage and abortion..." I think the truth is that they are really afraid of the destabilizing effect of having an influx of fiscal Liberal Catholics into the party. Red Tories, and the weird coalition of Neo-Cons, Libertarians and traditional Social Conservatives people have called "Blue Tories" are going nuts. These new Social Conservatives don't fit the mold.
This migration will definitely change the face of the internal politics of the CPC. The question is, will devout Catholics continue to vote Liberal? This time around I doubt it.
No comments:
Post a Comment