2008 Catholic Voter
Site last published: 12/11/08 2:55 PM
The Catholic Voter in Summer
2008
Catholic voters, who make up 25% of the American electorate, show little interest in so-called values issues to help them decide who should be the next president, according to a survey of 1,033 Catholic voters conducted July 8 to 15, 2008. Instead, they want the next president to focus on the basics of improving the economy, ending the war in Iraq, and keeping the country safe from terrorism.
For the last nine presidential elections, the Catholic vote has been a classic swing vote in American presidential politics, changing from support for the Democratic candidate to the Republican and back again. In every Presidential election since 1972, the candidate who won the Catholic vote has won the popular vote nationwide, making the Catholic vote a reliable indicator of where American voters will land on election day.
The national survey reported here is the third pre-presidential survey of Catholic voters that Belden Russonello & Stewart has conducted for Catholics for Choice (CFC). The results of the BRS/CFC Catholic voter surveys in October 2000 and June 2004 tracked closely with the way Catholics voted for President in November of those years.
The 2008 survey explores a diversity of issues, including Catholic voters’ presidential preference, attitudes toward economic and national security issues, the war in Iraq, immigration, and social issues including abortion, pharmacist refusals to fill prescriptions for birth control, gay marriage, and abstinence-only education. The survey also investigates Catholic voters’ opinions of the Catholic Church’s involvement in political issues. Some questions track attitudes from the 2004 survey.
The survey for Catholics for Choice is based on interviews with 1,033 Catholics who are likely voters in the 2008 presidential election. The survey included an oversample of 200 Latino Catholic likely voters for a total of 295 Latino interviews. The overall national survey sample and interviewing were provided by Knowledge Networks using a random-digit-dial-based sample and administered on-line. The oversample of Latinos was randomly drawn from telephone numbers across the country listed with Latino surnames and interviews were conducted via telephone.
The margin of sampling error for a random sample of 1,000 is ±3.1 percentage points, and ±5.7 percentage points for the Latino oversample (295). The demographic characteristics of the sample have been weighted statistically to bring age, race and region into their proper proportions for likely Catholic voters based on 2004 exit poll data.
Full Report
Executive Summary
Findings: Presidential Politics and the Catholic Vote: Priority Issues and Candidate Preference
Findings: Influence of the Catholic Church
Findings: Issues of Importance
Findings: The Young Catholic Vote
Findings: The Latino Catholic Vote
Appendix A: Detailed Methodology
Appendix B: Crosstab Tables
Appendix C: Questionnaire with Response Totals
Catholic voters, who make up 25% of the American electorate, show little interest in so-called values issues to help them decide who should be the next president, according to a survey of 1,033 Catholic voters conducted July 8 to 15, 2008. Instead, they want the next president to focus on the basics of improving the economy, ending the war in Iraq, and keeping the country safe from terrorism.
For the last nine presidential elections, the Catholic vote has been a classic swing vote in American presidential politics, changing from support for the Democratic candidate to the Republican and back again. In every Presidential election since 1972, the candidate who won the Catholic vote has won the popular vote nationwide, making the Catholic vote a reliable indicator of where American voters will land on election day.
The national survey reported here is the third pre-presidential survey of Catholic voters that Belden Russonello & Stewart has conducted for Catholics for Choice (CFC). The results of the BRS/CFC Catholic voter surveys in October 2000 and June 2004 tracked closely with the way Catholics voted for President in November of those years.
The 2008 survey explores a diversity of issues, including Catholic voters’ presidential preference, attitudes toward economic and national security issues, the war in Iraq, immigration, and social issues including abortion, pharmacist refusals to fill prescriptions for birth control, gay marriage, and abstinence-only education. The survey also investigates Catholic voters’ opinions of the Catholic Church’s involvement in political issues. Some questions track attitudes from the 2004 survey.
The survey for Catholics for Choice is based on interviews with 1,033 Catholics who are likely voters in the 2008 presidential election. The survey included an oversample of 200 Latino Catholic likely voters for a total of 295 Latino interviews. The overall national survey sample and interviewing were provided by Knowledge Networks using a random-digit-dial-based sample and administered on-line. The oversample of Latinos was randomly drawn from telephone numbers across the country listed with Latino surnames and interviews were conducted via telephone.
The margin of sampling error for a random sample of 1,000 is ±3.1 percentage points, and ±5.7 percentage points for the Latino oversample (295). The demographic characteristics of the sample have been weighted statistically to bring age, race and region into their proper proportions for likely Catholic voters based on 2004 exit poll data.
Full Report
Executive Summary
Findings: Presidential Politics and the Catholic Vote: Priority Issues and Candidate Preference
Findings: Influence of the Catholic Church
Findings: Issues of Importance
Findings: The Young Catholic Vote
Findings: The Latino Catholic Vote
Appendix A: Detailed Methodology
Appendix B: Crosstab Tables
Appendix C: Questionnaire with Response Totals