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Kevin ClarkeApril 27, 2012

Aaron Blake at the Washington Post spots a phenom hiding in plain site. While reporters spent the GOP primary season tracking the ups and downs of the average Republican evangelical's psychologcial digestion of Mitt Romney's Mormonism, in the background the Catholics were coming, the Catholics were coming! ("everybody to get from street") He predicts that after decades of Protestant contenders, the GOP has emerged as the home of moderate-to-right Catholics who could become a force to the center for the GOP in the coming years.

Blake writes:

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) — four of the five most likely GOP VP choices . . . are all Catholic, not to mention other people thought to be contenders, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) . . . But the 2012 veepstakes aside, the rising crop of Catholic politicians in the Republican Party signals a couple other shifts.

Most of these politicians will be considered top potential presidential candidates down the line, meaning it’s quite possible the Republican Party will nominate its first-ever Catholic for president in the relatively near future.

You can read the rest here.

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Tom Maher
11 years 11 months ago
It makes perfect sense for Catholics to seek out the GOP as stakeholders and as active participants in the contiued success of American political, legal, social  and economic system.  America has been very good to Catholics.  Catholics as sctive participants should be determined to keep America strong, free and prosperous and with the help of other Americans contnue to open up paths of personal opportunity, accomplishment and progress for everyone.  

Today m?ost Catholics are multi genrational? Americans wh?o? ??h?a?v?e? had plen?ty of time to know and ?e?x?p?e?r?i?e?n?c?e? ?w?h?a?t? ???????????????????????????Am?e?r?i?c?a?? ?i?s? ?a?l?l? ?a?b?o?u?t?.? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????C?a?t?h?o?l?i?c?s? ?? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????as a group???????? were op?en to what America had to offer and have experienc?e??d unusual so?cial, politcal and economic success while being free to at lesat potentially ful????ly paticipate in society?.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? ??T?h?e? ??G?O?P? ?a?i?m? ?i?s? ?t?o? ?c?o?n?t?i?n?u?e? ?t?h?e? ?s?u?c?c?e?s?s? ?o?f? ?t?h?e? ?????A?m?e?r?i?c?a?n? ?s?y?s?t?e?m? ?f?o?r? ?e?v?e?r?y?o?n?e?'?s? ?b?n?e?f?i?t?.?????
11 years 11 months ago
Since Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 it has been apparent to politicians with a yen for higher office that being a Democratic Catholic involves negotiating minefields that simply do not exist for Republican Catholics. If I were a Catholic striver, I'd be a Republican, not from any burning sense that all virtue is on that side of the aisle but simply from knowing my life would be easier.
JR Cosgrove
11 years 11 months ago
If Obama wanted to be a shoo in for the next term, he would dump Catholic Joe Biden and pick up Catholic Bob Casey.  That would probably ensure Pennsylvania and probably Ohio too.  Would Casey ever consider such a thing?  He is running again and seems unbeatable.
Patricia Bergeron
11 years 11 months ago
To the extent that Catholics (and the Church) are still interested in exercising a preferential option for the poor, they will probably continue to vote Democratic for the most part. Perhaps one should, instead, consider how right wing idealogues (of various religions) have recently taken over the Republican party. How will GOP Catholic politicians attend to the social Gospel in the current anti-immigrant, anti-social-welfare atmosphere?
Michael Henderson
11 years 11 months ago
Should the title of this article be rather GOP takes over Roman Catholic Church in America?  The Bishops have joined in the war against women, and also taken over the tea party message that Obama is like Hitler.  The Catholic opposition to the Republican Budget will fizzle as prominent Roman Catholic republicans will ignore the few scattered voices that object.  I expect the bishops to adopt the trickle down theology next.
ed gleason
11 years 11 months ago
If the GOP bishops ever wonder how a pro-life Democratic like me can ever stay that way.. the answer is easy. I just keep recalling that Reagan & Bush 1 were pro-choice, the GOP appointed Catholics on the SC would never in their wildest dreams overturn RoeWade. and same sex marriage is none of the bishops business anyway,   it will not occur in their churches and only in the basements of city hall. And a lot of things have happened in those basements that should be ignored. Bishops'property is tax exempt, they never do their own repairs needing permits,  they never get married so there is no need for them to ever go to a city hall basement.   
Jim McCrea
11 years 11 months ago
No.  It has been a GOP takeover of sel-appointed, self-serving authoritarian clericalist Catholic leadership and the sheeple who think anything a bishop says is Holy Writ.

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