The Catholic Vote and the Future of the Democratic Party

In May, William Galston spoke at a Pew Forum on Religion, Moral Values, and the Democratic Party (Hat Tip: MOJ friend Bob Cochran).  Among the many things Galston said was this: "there was a significant swing among traditionalist Catholics - 17 points toward Bush - and there was also a large increase in their turnout - 12 percent. In my judgment - and I'm going to come back to this in the penultimate section of my remarks - the real story of the 2004 election was much more about Catholics than it was about Protestants. And I think the real story of American politics in the next 10 years will be written as much around the behavior of Catholics, persuadable Catholics, as it is around the mobilization of traditionalist evangelical Protestants."  Galston also discussed the campaign of Virginia governor Kaine as an example of the way Democrats can woo back Catholic voters.