http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/ en Copyright 2008 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:40:39 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss full story in the Philadelphia Inquirer ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/08/prolife_senator_casey_champion.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/08/prolife_senator_casey_champion.php Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:40:39 -0500 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/07/catholics_in_alliance_meets_in.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/07/catholics_in_alliance_meets_in.php Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:11:43 -0500 Pennsylvania Fault Lines By E. J. Dionne Jr. Washington Post Friday, April 25, 2008; A23]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/pennsylvania_fault_lines.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/pennsylvania_fault_lines.php Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:54:09 -0500 Behind the Scenes: Watch for political fallout from pope's visitStory Highlights Papal representatives stress Benedict's U.S. trip is "not a political event" But Catholic vote still matters in U.S. politics, as 2004's close Ohio vote showed Obama's "guns and religion" gaffe may help Clinton with blue-collar Catholics Once Democrats settle on a candidate, Catholic vote seems wide open in November By John L. Allen Jr. CNN Senior Vatican Analyst Editor's Note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Senior Vatican Analyst John L. Allen Jr. is following the pope during his U.S. trip. ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/watch_for_political_fallout_in.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/watch_for_political_fallout_in.php Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:20:44 -0500 link to full story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/senator_casey_endorsement_chan.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/04/senator_casey_endorsement_chan.php Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:52:36 -0500 Sen. Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl today (Friday, March 14). The 27-year-old mayor announced his support for the New York senator during a "Solutions for America" rally at the Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum & Memorial here. Clinton has already been endorsed by Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and currently leads by double digits in recent polls of likely voters in the Keystone State. The Clinton campaign is depending on a victory in Pennsylvania to help it stay in the race after suffering a string of losses in February. Clinton picked up much-needed victories in Texas and Ohio on March 4 but still lags behind Sen. Barack Obama in the race for delegates. Earlier today Clinton stopped at the Curran Golf Gas Station to lay out her plan for bringing down gas prices and coming up with alternative energy. She spoke to reporters, gas station owner Jay Curran and local families affected by record $3.32 a gallon gas prices. Clinton proposed a $50 billion strategic energy fund, putting 2,000 hybrid school buses on the road and giving Detroit auto makers aide to come up with more fuel-efficient vehicles. She called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate market manipulation of wholesale oil markets. In between talking policy, Clinton also took the opportunity to knock the Bush Administration and her opponents’ records. “I gotta tell you, I will not be a president who holds hands with the Saudis, I will hold the Saudis accountable,” Clinton said. “I think it’s time we kicked the oil men out of the White House. Unfortunately, despite a lot of talk about clean energy, Sen. Obama voted for Dick Cheney’s budget-busting tax breaks for big oil. And Sen. McCain opposes eliminating them.” The Obama campaign quickly fired back. “Sen. Clinton’s taken thousands of dollars from oil lobbyists in this campaign, so she should know that we’re not going to kick the oil men out of the White House by taking their money to get in,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from Pittsburgh for the Wall Street Journal March 14, 2008, 6:25 pm http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/pittsburgh_mayor_endorses_sena.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/pittsburgh_mayor_endorses_sena.php Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:04:11 -0500 Catholic Voters Viewed as Key in Pennsylvania By Howard Berman March 10, 2008 Copyright 2008, New York Sun]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/catholic_voters_viewed_as_key.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/catholic_voters_viewed_as_key.php Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:50:55 -0500 Blog by David Mark March 1, 2008 A final big-state showdown is scheduled for April 22 in Pennsylvania--a state that is just under one-third Catholic. "The Catholic vote is absolutely critical in some of the major markets like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In Pittsburgh it can be as much as 50 percent of the [primary] vote," said Jon Delano, adjunct professor of Public Policy and Politics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "The question is how much does the religious part play in how they cast their ballot." Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), who represents one of the most heavily Catholic metropolitan areas in the nation, said the Catholic vote in his Pittsburgh-based district is still very much up for grabs but Clinton has to be considered the front-runner. "She's the person to beat in Pennsylvania. President Clinton is very popular in our neck of the woods," Doyle said. "This is Hillary's race to lose." Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), another Pittsburgh-area congressman, said Catholic voters in his district "are a very sizable voting bloc. But it’s still fluid – and they haven’t really started to campaign here." Doyle, Altmire and Rep. John Murtha, the other Democrat who represents western Pennsylvania--all Catholics--have not endorsed a candidate for the nomination. Despite Obama's struggles to gain traction among Catholics, Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor and the former dean of the Catholic University School of Law, insists that in a general election matchup with John McCain, Obama would prove popular with Catholic voters. "Senator Obama has captured better than any of the other candidates a concern that religion has been used as a wedge issue – that there has been a deliberate effort on the part of conservatives to basically try and gain political advantage by pointing out how much Democrats disrespect religion," said Kmiec, who served as a legal adviser to Republican Mitt Romney. "On the other side, Democrats have been too quick to disregard the significance of faith in people’s lives – that they have been too quick to embrace wholesale secularism."]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/prominent_pa_democrats_weigh_i.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/prominent_pa_democrats_weigh_i.php Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:01:56 -0500 For Obama, an uphill battle in Pennsylvania By Dan Balz 6 March 2008 Pennsylvania's April 22 primary stands as the next big battleground in the Democratic presidential race and Barack Obama has no good options. He can stand and fight, and probably lose, or try to downplay the contest, and lose by an even bigger margin. In terms of demographics, Pennsylvania is Ohio squared. Everything that worked for Hillary Clinton in Ohio is there in Pennsylvania in greater numbers. The Post ran a chart in Thursday's editions comparing the Democratic electorates in the two states. Obama's campaign should tape it on every office wall in their North Michigan Avenue headquarters in Chicago as a reminder of the steep hill they have to climb. Look at some of the comparisons: The black-white mix is roughly similar, meaning Obama will not have a significantly larger African American population to tap. The male-female mix is also roughly similar, with women accounting for nearly 60 percent of the electorate, meaning Clinton will have her solid base upon which to build. But look, too, at some differences. There are fewer young people and more old people in Pennsylvania than in Ohio, which is good for Clinton and bad for Obama. In Ohio, 44 percent of the Democratic electorate was under age 45 and Obama carried them by 54 percent to 45 percent. In Pennsylvania those voters may represent only a quarter of the electorate. In Ohio, voters over age 65 comprised 14 percent of the electorate and Clinton carried them 72 percent to 26 percent. In Pennsylvania, they may account for a quarter of the Democratic vote. There are fewer college graduates and more non-college graduates in Pennsylvania than in Ohio, both among the population at large and among white voters. That, too, spells trouble for Obama. The differences are not hugely significant, but even a slightly less educated electorate plays to Clinton's favor. Again, look at what happened in Ohio. Among white, non-college educated voters, who accounted for almost half the electorate, Clinton beat Obama by 44 percentage points -- 71 percent to 27 percent. Among white, college graduates, who were just 29 percent of the electorate, she won, but by just 7 points. Clinton has generally done well with Roman Catholics. In Ohio, she won white Catholic voters by 31 points. There they accounted for a fifth of the electorate. In Pennsylvania, white Catholics could be closer to a third of the vote. If she were to match her Ohio performance in Pennsylvania, white Catholics alone would give her 20 percent of the overall vote. So the deck is stacked in Pennsylvania. A Clinton victory there will intensify a debate among Democrats about whether Obama has a "big state" problem. In states with more than 100 pledged delegates, Clinton has won California, New York, Texas, Ohio and New Jersey. Obama has won Illinois and will be favored in the May primary in North Carolina. Clinton also claims victories in the disputed states of Michigan and Florida. That's an unfair claim because both states were sanctioned by the Democratic Party and stripped of their convention seats. Both may be headed for do-over contests later this spring. With Obama continuing to hold a lead in pledged delegates, Clinton will point to her success in big-state primaries as she tries to woo superdelegates to support her candidacy. It is a justifiable argument. When matched head to head in states with big and diverse electorates, Clinton has consistently defeated Obama. Her advisers argue that shows she will be a stronger general election candidate in some of the major battlegrounds in the fall. Pennsylvania may well add to that record. What are Obama's counter claims? One is that many of those big states will vote Democratic no matter which candidate is the nominee. California, New York, Illinois and probably New Jersey fit that category. Clinton will point to Ohio and Pennsylvania as evidence of her ability to win critical battlegrounds, but Obama will counter that his victories key Midwest states that have been competitive in recent elections -- Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- show that he's best positioned to compete in key swing states. Another Obama counter is that he will have a far easier time winning over her voters than she will have winning over his voters. The logic here is that her base of traditional Democrats are hungry to recapture the White House not likely to back John McCain in the fall, but Obama's constituency will be less transferable. Independent voters may be more reluctant to back Clinton, his younger voters may have less enthusiasm for Clinton and his African American voters may feel cheated if he is not the nominee. Obama also will argue that he has more ability to expand the electoral map. He will point to success in Virginia and North Carolina -- if he wins there -- as partial evidence, and he will highlight his endorsements from prominent red-state politicians -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius among them -- as proof that they see him as a far better nominee in their parts of the country. Clinton will note that she won Arizona on Super Tuesday as well as Arkansas and Tennessee. Clinton and Obama remain remarkably evenly matched. Neither has shown an ability to consistently peel away the others' voters. Obama could close down the race by defeating Clinton in Pennsylvania and will have seven weeks to make his case to the voters there. But it will be a hard sell, given the landscape and Clinton's support from Gov. Edward Rendell. Which is why the race is could go on well beyond the Keystone state. ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/for_obama_an_uphill_battle_in.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/03/for_obama_an_uphill_battle_in.php Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:14:51 -0500 story in the Atlanta Journal Constition describes how nervous backers of Hillary Clinton, including Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, have wondered aloud in recent days whether Clinton's campaign has been too slow to organize for Pennsylvania's potentially crucial April 22 primary — not to mention contests in Ohio and Texas, which vote March 4.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/02/clinton_strong_in_pa_poll_but.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/02/clinton_strong_in_pa_poll_but.php Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:45:40 -0500 To read more. ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/01/bishops_conference_official_praises_senator_caseys_introduction_of_pregnant_womens_support_act_.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2008/01/bishops_conference_official_praises_senator_caseys_introduction_of_pregnant_womens_support_act_.php Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:11:49 -0500 here. ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2007/12/pa_catholic_diocese_sets_up_12.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2007/12/pa_catholic_diocese_sets_up_12.php Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:55:24 -0500 here. ]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2007/12/church_expands_its_mission_to.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/PA/2007/12/church_expands_its_mission_to.php Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:54:37 -0500