The CNN Article On How the GOP Got Catholic Is Incomplete

CNN has a article up called How GOP got Catholicized . I think it's slightly flawed and leaves crucial things out.

First the real story line could be how did the GOP get Catholicized AND BORN AGAIN. Catholic and Evangelicals have often been brothers in status and economics for decades. They were part of that NEW DEAL Coalition.

It is often called Gospel that the tensions of race tensions played the major role in the South going GOP. I beg to differ. After the real tensions of desegregation where were we at in Louisiana on the eve of the year I became able to vote. That being 1987. Well the Congressional Delegation was in pretty darn good shape for the Democrats . Both U.S. Senators were Democrats . There were 3 Republicans and the rest of Democrats.

Today Louisiana has one Democrat in the House. When popular Blue Dog Congressman Democrat Rodney Alexander became a Republican because the Nancy Pelosi was putting impossible demands on him the revolution was complete.

What happened can be found in a pretty much incredible coup against the New Deal Coalition at the Democratic Party Convention. One of those Catholics Bosses that was dethroned was Louisiana's own Hale Boggs for all practical purposes. For a run down on this see Why the Democrats Are Blue - A Conversation with Mark Stricherz . That link is required reading for everything I am saying here.

It should be recalled how socially liberal Republican was at this time. Nixon gave an award to the guy that made the birth control pill. The Rockerfeller Branch were sitting on boards of Planned parenthood and many were very pro choice. It's no accident that a lot of former Republican First Ladies differ from their husbands on abortion. When the social conservative Democrats and the more Hawkish Democrats were thrown overboard the GOP was there waiting to be taken over.

When the unthinkable happened , and Governor Casey got vetoed from the speaking at the 1992 Democratic Convention it was clear that the Blue Dog Democrats with pro life views was now a functional zoo exhibit which people could look at as something exotic .

It's my belief that Evangelicals ,and born agains got the jump on Catholics to the GOP because of lack of Union Power where they were located.

Catholics by tradition, demographics, and location were much more connected to Democratic aligned Labor than their evangelical cousins were. However this was just temporary. Unions were losing influence. Plus the continued migration of Catholics to the Midsouth , South , and West further changed the dynamic. Throw in a lot of Reagan and well it was off to the races.

So again its needs to be recalled that too long ago in the past these Born Again votes were dye in the wool Democrats. Many Catholics and "Born Agains" are now just being reunited again.


There are a few other things I take issue with in this article:

The GOP is undergoing a quiet process of Catholicization. It's one of the reasons why this year's race has focused so much on social issues -- and sex.

I have no idea what that means. If this is in reference to the HHS mandate that is not about sex , but religious liberty.

. Santorum is also an outspoken admirer of Saint Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the conservative lay organization Opus Dei. Opus Dei encourages among its members a work ethic and an effort to "live like a saint" that is strikingly similar to the values and mores of New England's Puritan settlers.

Don't get me started on that comparison.