It is not a living tradition in terms of grassroots organizations. Unlike the Christian Coalition, it has not focused on the nuts and bolts of social effectiveness. There's a vacuum there. Cowdin is right. Many of the principles of Catholic social teaching indeed have not reached typical Catholics in the pews at Sunday Mass. Hot-button teachings on homosexuality or condom distribution are familiar to many Catholics more from media coverage than church instruction.
Abortion is the one teaching that has wide recognition inside and outside the church.
At the center of Catholic social teaching is a consistent ethic that calls people to seek justice by defending the dignity of the human person from womb to tomb. This is truly a radical vision. America's bishops have been very clear in asserting that the federal government has a responsibility to correct the systemic economic injustices that cause poverty. They have not minced words or fudged on their teachings. That the Catholic social vision does not perish can be credited to the bishops' sometimes unwelcome but needed forays into the politics of the federal budget and other policy debates.