He gets no argument from Patrick Scully, the communications director at the nonpartisan Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a national group with more than 350,000 members. Judging by what Scully is hearing, some of those members are not pleased with Bush these days. Because it's mind-boggling, in the year 2000, that this kind of thinking still exists. Whether this stuff can affect the way some Catholics will vote, I can't say. And day after day, I've had calls from members and other people who have been looking for Bob Jones stuff on our website.
Political strategists respect Catholic voters, because they've done the math.
Catholics comprise nearly 30 percent of the general electorate. And they are most heavily concentrated in the states that wield the most clout. The Democrats don't want to forfeit that advantage. It's political useful for McCain and for the Democrats, who will presumably try to take full advantage. You can touch a common nerve among Catholics if you can demonstrate intolerance of bigotry.