Talk Elections

If he wins the Dem nomination, John Kerry will be the first Catholic nominee of a major party since John Kennedy in 1960. Will this be a factor at all, and if so, does it help or hurt him?

My guess is that it isn't really an issue at all, however, to the extent that it is it may marginally help Kerry since Catholics are considered a key swing vote in many of the big battleground states in the North, so if he can do better than average for a Democrat among Catholics it could give him a boost. And any potential anti-Catholic sentiment against Kerry would be more likely to occur in the South, in states that he probably wouldn't win anyway.

not really he basically told the pope to stop meddling in US affairs mid to late summer last year.  Plus he is for abortion whicht he church is adamanently against.

I agree with all of that. It would further strengthen the incentive for Kerry to go with a "no-southern-states-strategy". I don't think it would be a major issue, but on balance it would benefit Kerry, for the reasons you stated. People who don't like Catholics wouldn't vote Democrat anyway.

Yes but his stands will turn off some Catholics too.  I am Catholic and I could not even fathom telling the pope to buzz off essentially.

It certainly won't hurt him, whether it will help or not...dunno.

I really don't think it is an issue

Sorry, I posted accidentally before I had the time to type anything...that seems to be more of other stands than his religion, you're probably talking of conservative catholics there. But I don't really think the pope should meddle in the affairs of sovereign nations.

The pope was just advising as he does to Catholics, I think it was an abortion case or law.  

Kerry just handled it poorly.  If I'd have been the pope I'd have been like Fine, EXCUMMINICATION for you then.  but that is why he is the holy father and I am not :)  more merciful.

Won't hurt him.  but his position on abortion and being catholic is troubling

JFK 1960... Catholic
JFK 2004....Catholic

HMMMMMM? ITS DESTINY

What is Kerry's middle name?

   

lets hope not
 
 
 
 

Kerry's middle name is Forbes.

Facially, it is of little importance. I don't think there are many Americans left that have a deep and abiding prejudice against Catholics. It now becomes a question of whether he can set aside those tenets of belief, and form a government that can represent all Americans. From what I have seen, he has a respect for a secular policy for this nation and separation of church and state, and I believe that he will not let his faith fetter his determination of what is right for this nation.

Do you think Lieberman's being Jewish would hurt him, if he were the nominee?

even though im jewish i would say yes, there is so much anti semitism in this country even though poeple dont say it. dean campgain manger joe trippi resigned today, before he was demoted. DEAN IS heading down down down

I think Lieberman's Judaism would help him in certain quarters, and hurt him in others.  It would probably only hurt him among those not inclined to vote for him anyway, so overall I think it would help.

As far as Kerry's Catholicism is concerned, I don't think it's an issue.  In any case, Kerry can't really be considered a serious Catholic.  He's as much a serious Catholic as Clinton is a serious Baptist.

Well, Clinton did attend church weekly the whole time that he was in office, so he would appear to have been a pretty serious Baptist.

he may have been in church but he must have missed the don't commit adultery part.

details, details... :)

You might also notice that Keneddy was a Senator from Massachusetts

kerry is no jack Kennedy, ted Kennedy maybe, but not Jack.

Jack was energetic engaging a fresh face, all of which Kerry is none.

good point pete, not to mention that mass has broguht us 3 presidents named JOHN

It doesn't look like it will be 4 yet

Lieberman being Jewish wasn't exactly a big issue when he was the VP candidate, and I doubt it would affect him greatly in the general election. More conservatives seem to like him anyway (that may only be because he's the only moderate to conservative Democrat in the field of candidates.

Kerry's Catholicism might hurt him a little bit in the SC primary, but other than that it won't be much of a factor.

Actually, John Kerry isn't even Catholic any more.   By publicly voting for abortion he has automatically excommunicated himself.

I'm guessing that Kerry is not going to play up his nominal Catholicism.   If he did, it would start coming out if he attends Mass with any regularity, and if he got an annulment before remarrying.  

It is worth noting that I just checked his official campaign biography and found no mention of his Catholicism.   I suspect that it will hardly be mentioned in the campaign.

As for the comparisons to the other Catholic Sen. JFK from Massachusetts, in the immortal words of Lloyd Bentsen:

"Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

TheOldLine

That's insane.


Which was actuallu adressed at Mr PotatoE...

I never could understand certain things about Catholicism...
Papal Infallibility for example...

Lieberman's Jewishness could hurt him, but not because of traditional anti-Semitism, which is a form of racism.

Today's new emerging anti-Semitism does not take the form of racial bigotry as much as anti-Zionism, that is, the sentiment that Israel does not have the right to exist as a Jewish state. Although more prevalent in the Mideast and continental Europe, this sentiment is found among some Democrats on the far left here.

Although Lieberman certainly is a strong supporter of Israel, he is not a supporter of Sharon's policies - in Israel he would be considered to be on the left.

While I don't see Lieberman as a nominee losing a northeast Democratic state, I could see his support among Democrats as more tepid in California or Oregon.

However,  his conservatism and emphasis on values would make him competitive in a number of more conservative midwest and possibly southern states.

I find it quite disturbing that any candidates religion or even lack of one should matter in the USA at all. However I know that it does. Some of the filth spread about Albert Smith back in '28 such as 'building a tunnel from the White House to the Vatican' was obscene. Kennedy in '60 was very eloquent when faced with this question. Kerry should not have a problem. If a Democrat wants Bush out, they will vote for the Democratic candidate regardless of faith. And if they do have an issue with his religion, they have no right calling themselves Democrat let alone liberal.

I think it might even help Kerry a little that he's Catholic, because a small number of Catholic voters might be swayed by it.  I'm not that up on the demographics of Catholicism but I'm guessing it might help in PA and OH.  For the most part though any Dem is going to win the heavily Catholic states, and there is no way any Dem is going to win any of the Protestant Bible Belt states, whatever the candidate's religion.

You can run for Atlas Fantasy Election Pope.

Please, no fantasy pope.

I thought it was on the Iraq War, which the pope criticized a lot.

Haha, lol,, that's really funny! :)

<<<While I don't see Lieberman as a nominee losing a northeast Democratic state, I could see his support among Democrats as more tepid in California or Oregon.>>>

If Lieberman had less support in Oregon and California it wouldn't be because he's Jewish.

Let's see. Oregon, not exactly a heavily Jewish state, has a Jewish Senatator as well as a Jewish mayor of the largest (by far) city.

California has 2 Jewish senators as well as a slew of reps that are Jewish.

Last time I checked, all 7 democratic reps from southern california that weren't black or hispanic were Jewish.

What is the logic behind your reasoning Mort?

The support of Lieberman among hard left Democrats would not be tepid because he's Jewish, but because he would be perceived as a Zionist Jew (supportive of Israel as a Jewish state, not open to compromises such as the "one-state" solution).

Why do I feel west coast lefties would be more unhappy with him than the east coast variety?

It's rather unscientific, but among my liberal friends (and I have many on both coasts), I find those in OR and CA more dogmatic, more affiliated with campaign organizations, and less inclined to support Israel as the collective global representation of the Jewish people (regardless of their religion) than my friends in the Northeast.

The Democrats are in a very agitated state this year - my arguments for Lieberman are met with hostility and disdain ("You sound like a Republican!" [said with disgust]).

Western PA is heavily Catholic and is usually a swing vote. This would probably ensure a Dem victory in PA, but Dems would likely win it in a 50-50 race anyway.

The reason, Realpolitik, with me speaking as an erstwhile Catholic, that Papal infallibility doesn't make sense is because it's a ridiculous idea. As you know, it's not all around infallibility, but infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra. But if you stay abreast of what kind of ex cathedra they're churning out, you'd see fallibility as a very real facet.

There was a great scene in Father Ted about that...:)