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Catholic World News News Feature

Gallup finds split Catholic vote in US August 10, 2004

American Catholic sympathies are deeply divided in this year's presidential campaign, according to the Gallup polling organization. Practicing Catholics lean heavily toward President George W. Bush, while those who do not regularly practice their faith favor Senator John Kerry.

The latest Gallup poll numbers show Kerry holding an overall edge among Catholic voters, by 51- 45 percent. The Gallup survey, taken between July 17 and August 1, claims a 5 percent margin of error.

Catholic voters, who comprise about 25 percent of the American electorate, traditionally supported the Democratic Party. But Ronald Reagan captured the majority of Catholic voters in each of his two presidential campaigns, as did George W. Bush in 2000. Today both major parties view "the Catholic vote" as a pivotal element in presidential politics.

However, the latest Gallup data confirm previous statements that there is not a single "Catholic vote," but two very different blocs. Catholics who attend Mass every week preferred Bush by a 52- 42 percent margin. Those who go to Mass less regularly favor Kerry by 50- 45 percent. And those Catholics who "seldom" or "never" go to church gave Kerry a commanding 57- 39 percent edge.

Unfortunately for the President, the Catholics who rarely attend Mass form the largest bloc in the Gallup poll, accounting for 40 percent of those surveyed. Those who attend Mass weekly amounted to only one-third of the Gallup survey sample.