Thursday, February 14, 2008

The New Conservatives?

Slate is running a witty and interesting note on why Catholics may go for Obama. I think it's remarkable for its wit more than its insight--I don't find a Catholic voting for Obama to be all that shocking. The Vatican cares about abortion, yes, but about many many other issues as well. One thing I really respect about the church is how seriously it takes the call to care for our fellow man.

Couple random thoughts:
  • I don't know if I'll ever stop being exasperated at all the demographic lumping that goes on in horse race politics: "The Hispanics," "The Youth," "The Soccer Moms." Sure, some of the groups do tend to vote together, but many are quite diverse. Catholics, for example.
  • This made me giggle: "So instead, some Catholics may be hoping for a Huckabee miracle. Southern Baptists and Catholics haven't always gotten along, but there is something just downright Knights of Columbus-friendly about the guy—squirrel-roasting aside. Huck's delegate math will need to cash in more than a few chits with St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, but hey, in theology, if you can make do with five loaves and fishes, what's the big deal about delegates?"

1 comment:

ryan said...

I think Obama is problematic on more than just pro-life issues:

- he supports raising the minimum wage, a bad policy for the poor and a surefire way to raise prices

- he's strongly pro-union

- he generally supports massive funding increases and massive tax increases

- he wants to get us out of Iraq, but I see him spending more, not less, on the military through increased costs elsewhere

Hype aside, the difference between Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy is largely cosmetic. I wouldn't vote for the latter, so I'm not sure why the former is supposed to be all that and a bag of chips.