Of Popes And Presidents

We are told, in relation to George Bush’s recent visit to the Pope, that the blue-collar Catholic vote is up for grabs, and that, by appearing with the Holy Father, Bush is trying to direct it towards John McCain.

Well, I for one cannot see why Bush would wish to help McCain, of all people, one little bit. To say the very least, he has certainly never done so in the past.

And everybody understands that both Popes and Presidents are of course required to go through the public motions of meeting and greeting all sorts of people, including each other.

But the most important point is this: what have the Republicans ever done to deserve the blue-collar Catholic vote? They have never done anything, but quite the reverse, to deserve any blue-collar votes, on which they have nevertheless long depended. And as to Catholic votes, McCain would merely continue the long Republican tradition of pretending to be against abortion while doing absolutely nothing to kill the goose the lays the electoral golden eggs.

Obama might be no better, although he might surprise us: as C S Lewis pointed out, nobody ever converted from unbelief to liberal Christianity; and the black churches are not without their pro-lifers, as well as being mainstays of things like the Alliance for Marriage. But he would certainly be no worse, because he simply could not possibly be any worse.