The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Sore Knees

11.8.04 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 3)

I was almost shocked that the RNC was paying attention to us this year: I had signed up in 2000 and had never heard a thing from the RNC then! However, I believe the lion's share of credit for mobilizing the Catholic vote this year should go to Catholic Answers, a small lay organization, which massively distributed a terrific nonpartisan -- no political parties, just emphasis on "Does the candidate follow Church teachings?" -- voters guide to both Catholic parishes and Catholic individuals across the U.S. over the past few months.

I have been actively involved in the Republican Party here in South Carolina since late 1995, and have been fighting for most of that time for more Party recognition of us Catholic Republicans. Unfortunately, many of my Republican brethren in this state fail to understand that neither South Carolina nor the South Carolina Republican Party are 100 percent Protestant.
-- Elizabeth Whitaker
Easley, South Carolina

Paul Kengor's points about Kerry losing the Catholic vote are well taken so far as they go. The most encouraging numbers he comes up with are from Florida and Ohio: 66% of practicing Catholics in Florida rejected Kerry; 65% in Ohio. Nationwide, practicing Catholics went for Bush 55% to 44%.

Kengor defines practicing Catholics as those "who attend Mass weekly," which leaves me with a troubling question: What kinds of Masses are the 44% Kerry supporters attending? The numbers of American Catholic voters who vote with an informed Catholic conscience are getting better, no doubt, but are still scandalously low.
-- John R. Dunlap
San Jose, California

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Kengor's assessment in this article. Thank God that Bush "overachieved" with devout Catholics and Jews, compared to his percentages of those voting blocks in 2000. And I agree that the media will want to demonize evangelical Christians and blame Karl Rove for his "diabolical" efforts to mobilize their votes. We know that it wasn't just us evangelicals, but devout Judeo-Christians throughout the country.

I did find one comparison intriguing, however. I know it's simplistic, and that many other factors came into play. But isn't it interesting that Gore's margin in 2000 was half a million votes, and that Bush's margin Tuesday was 3 and a half million -- a difference of 4 million? And didn't Karl "Dr. Evil" Rove estimate after the 2000 election that 4 million evangelicals should have voted for Bush, but didn't? Coincidence? Maybe. Simplistic? Surely. Interesting? Certainly.
-- Tim Jones

Paul Kengor, in "Kerry Loses His Faith," writes, "Call us club-carrying troglodytes, but us simple-minded Christians in the hinterland just can't countenance that Jesus would be a champion of legalized abortion."

I quite agree that part about Jesus. But please explain to me the difference between allowing women to choose whether to continue a pregnancy (a choice they will make regardless of the law -- and many will never have an abortion) and Catholics' support for war, which, last I checked, is fatal to men, women, children, babies -- and fetuses.

Call me whatever you want, but I just can't countenance that Jesus would be a champion of illegal -- or legal -- wars.
-- Brian J. Foley

HATRED WANING
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell's The Wages of Hatred:

Interesting article on the demise of the poseur JFK. He can burn his Lucky Barn Coat now and we can all go back to our lives uninterrupted by fact-checking his lies. On that point, however -- I heard some vague radio shot that Kerry probably got a general or less than honorable discharge for giving aid and comfort to the enemy and only later had that expunged under the benevolent Jimmy Carter's amnesty program. Your statement "only later did we find he did not even have an honorable discharge" surprised me, as I had not heard it reliably mentioned. Can you tell me where you heard it? I live in Liberal Land California and need all the fodder available in the aftermath of this war.

One other thing -- as I have taken a day off from TV have I missed the concession speeches of Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Moore, Barbra S or any other heretofore painfully vocal Kerry supporter?
-- Diane Smith
So. San Francisco, California

LEAVING HOME
Re: Nelson Ward's letter ("Almost Perfect") in Reader Mail's Losing It Big:

My fellow New Mexican Nelson Ward correctly points out that Joe Lieberman would have been a more dangerous candidate in competition for moderates but forgets how he was slaughtered in the Democrat primaries and why. If the anybody-but-Bush temperament of the far left could have survived Lieberman he might have won. It seems more probable that Nader would have got a very large percentage of the irrational (Michael Moore) left. I heard anti-Semitic remarks from two of my leftist neighbors in Albuquerque. Maybe they could have held their nose and voted for Lieberman, but I have a hard time picturing it. John Kerry's double-talk candidacy was not some kind of unfortunate character flaw but necessary to cover the split between traditional patriotic liberals and the anti-American part of the Democrat party. He was a war hero to some and an anti-war hero to others. I continue to be amazed at how this party holds itself together. It convinces pro-life people to vote Democrat even though the party seems only to stand for abortion anymore. It combines pro and anti-American voters with little friction. Traditions die hard. Zell Miller couldn't face being a Republican, but one senses his children and grandchildren will make the switch. This storyline was played out it in my family and I suspect many others.
-- Clif Briner

PARTING THOUGHTS
Thank you for the words of encouragement throughout the election.

I've been seeing a great deal about the post-election Democratic navel-gazing that's occurring. However, I ask that they consider one issue after all has been said and done: Maybe Kerry lost because he and his supporters simply acted like such jerks throughout the campaign? Obnoxious is too polite a word to describe their behavior.
-- Raymond Sarracino

How about a pool on how many intelligence committee meetings Kerry shows up for in the next year?
-- Harry Clemence
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Religion, Protestantism, Abortion, Law, Supreme Court, Iraq, NATO