The 2016 Presidential Election was a historic election for several reasons. Aside from the obvious fact that a billionaire political outsider beat a long serving career politician, this election was also significant because of who Catholic voters cast their vote for. Contrary to what the polls predicted, Trump won the Catholic vote by 52% compared to Clinton’s 45%. The Catholic vote has swayed between the two major parties over the years, but prior to this election George W. Bush was the last Republican candidate to win the Catholic vote.[1] Mitt Romney, a candidate who appeared to have a deeper connection to religion and religious values, lost the Catholic vote in 2012 to Obama, but still Trump was able to capture the Catholic majority. How did this happen and what does this say about Catholics?
Leading up to the election, Clinton’s campaign had two major blows that could have ultimately impacted the fate of the Catholic vote. Leaked emails between John Podesta and Sandy Newman showcased Clinton’s desire for a “Catholic Spring” that would make the Catholic Church more progressive in their eyes. Similarly, it expressed plans to pressure the Church to change by creating organizations with “Catholic” in the name that would be guided by progressive ideals. While none of these things would be viewed fondly upon by Catholics, the demeaning and belittling nature of the emails which expressed the lack of respect that Clinton and her team had for conservative Catholics was probably what hit Catholic voters the hardest from the emails.[2] There are undoubtedly ideological differences between Clinton and conservative Catholics, but the emails revealed the complete disdain and lack of respect that Clinton had for that broad constituency.
In addition to the email leak, the abortion discussion between Clinton and Trump during the final presidential election did not fare well for Clinton. Trump criticized and attacked Clinton’s decision to vote against a ban on late-term abortion during her time as a senator. He later went on to graphically describe how the current abortion law allows individuals to “take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day.”[3] Regardless of how factual Trump’s statements were, the split screen that showed Clinton’s facial reaction to his scare rhetoric portrayed her as apathetic and unaffected by what he was saying. While individuals should not base their vote off a candidate’s facial expressions, her reaction probably did not help her.
Although these two incidents did not help the Clinton campaign, I think ultimately the prospect of Clinton getting to appoint a Supreme Court Justice was what helped Trump secure the Catholic vote. Trump is by no means a poster child of Catholic values with his often racist and misogynistic rhetoric, but Catholics could have been more comfortable with the prospect of a Republican in power rather than someone that would not have considered or even jeopardized Catholic values when making decisions or appointing a Supreme Court Justice. Similarly, Catholics could have been comfortable with the fact that Trump would be surrounded with conservatives who would help in his decision making process. While it will definitely be interesting to see how the Trump presidency plays out and how Catholic voters will be represented, but if this election shows anything it is that religion can play an important role in elections.
[1] Desanctis, Alexandra. "Trump Wins Catholic Vote by Seven Points." National Review. National Review, 9 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
[2] Fehrnstrom, Eric. "Clinton’s Revolution against the Catholic Church - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe Media Partners, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
[3] Belluck, Pam. "Trump Said Women Get Abortions Days Before Birth. Doctors Say They Don’t." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
