Brownback helping McCain attract Iowa Catholics

I thought this was an interesting news item out of the the AP.

Brownback helping McCain attract Iowa Catholics-

Associated Press - January 1, 2008 1:54 PM ET
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Just days before the Iowa caucuses, presidential hopeful John McCain has enlisted Kansas Senator and fellow Republican Sam Brownback to try to win Catholic voters.
Brownback -- who dropped out of the presidential race in October -- is co-chairman of Catholics for McCain. The move is seen as an attempt by McCain to lure Christian conservatives, who could have a significant impact at Republican caucuses Thursday in Iowa.
In a statement, Brownback calls McCain "a genuine American hero with a conservative record who has what it takes to lead this country."
Evangelicals have been wary of McCain since 2000, when he criticized Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance."
So far, most Iowa evangelicals support former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts.

Now this organization is a lot more than just for IOWA. Ex Governor Keating is also the Co- Chair. However I do wish the Huckabee Campaign that has I feel considerable Catholic support and Catholic Interest will take note.

Senator Brownback , while not having great poll numbers, is still influential and listened to by the political nerd Catholics like myself. I was not surprised that he backed McCain. Also note despite this he said some nice things about Huckabee a few days ago. If Huckabee can get through the primaries getting Senator Brownback on board is a must.

I will be looking to see where the Catholic Mass Going vote goes. Sadly, this vote is rarely tracked. Often on those surveys you see on TV and by the big papers Mass Going Catholics are never ID'ed as religious voters. Those are almost always regular Church going Evangelicals. Why this is done I am not sure. I think it is a huge flaw in many surveys and polls. For instance as to the Evangelical Religious vote pollsters will pose their qualify questions usually as to Church attendance. For Catholics they just ask if they are Catholic. Again the reasoning escapes me on why they do this.

Anywho!!! This is one recent why in several recent elections the Mass Going Catholic votes and where it swings to has surprised some folks. The 04 Bush/Kerry election is a recent example. I had hopes that polls would adjust their questions to track it after that election. However as I noted in the immigration poll questions the last year they have not on the whole changed their polling groups dynamics

SO what does the mean for the Huckabee Campaign. Well Catholics in the trenches and on the National Level need to make sure the word is out that Catholics are also in Huckabee camp. Short term I think this bodes well for Huckabee in Iowa and New Hampshire especially because it will Cause more problems for Romney.