Bill Whittle Gives the Best Speech of 2012

"This is what it sounds like when you actually believe in the civilization that you claim to represent.  This is what it sounds like when believe that civilization is worth preserving."

The Catholic Vote Swings

There is a term from Catholic theology which aptly describes those Catholics who will again vote for the despotic thug illegitimately occupying the White House; that term is "invincible ignorance."

According to Gallup, President John F. Kennedy garnered 78 percent of the Catholic vote.

From National Review Online
By Michael Novak

The new wisdom is that Catholics vote just like everybody else. That purported wisdom isn’t wise.

The Catholic vote differs in four decisive ways from the Protestant, Jewish, and secular votes.

(1) The Catholic vote is concentrated mainly in the largest states in the Electoral College: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey.

(2) A larger proportion of Catholics than of any other religious group except Jews votes regularly, every election. In some jurisdictions (Chicago, Boston) Catholic voters have been known to vote at a rate of 104 percent or more when necessary, some of them after their natural deaths.

(3) In some key states, the Catholic vote, although tending more Democratic, is fairly evenly split between the Democrats and the Republicans. Keeping the Catholic vote for the Democrat down even to 52 percent may be enough to get a Republican elected.

And (4) — most important of all — in many states Catholic voters frequently swing between parties by margins of 3 to 6 percent. And even more in some years.

As political professionals know well, each swinger counts twice. Each takes a vote away from one column and puts it into the other. If on a national basis the 25 million Catholic votes (24 percent of all votes cast) swing by 1 million votes toward Romney and away from Obama, that gives Romney a net gain of 2 million votes in relation to his competitor, and Obama a net loss of 2 million. This year it seems more likely to be a swing of 2 million for Romney, a net loss to Obama of 4 million. And it may be even a larger swing, depending on how powerful the broad-based campaign to protect religious liberty turns out to be.

The historical record of these large swings helps to explain why the Catholic vote has gone with the winning side in so many elections since 1952. Put another way, the Catholic swing vote has more than any other decided the winner, just because it is of such significant numbers. No Democrat since 1952 (except for Clinton in 1992) has ever won the White House without a majority of the Catholic vote.

In some states, as noted above, Republicans do not have to win a majority of the Catholic vote to carry the state; they need only hold down the Democratic Catholic majority by two or three percentage points. In Pennsylvania, my home state, the rule among professionals was that if the Catholic vote for the Democrat could be held down to 52 percent, the Republican could take the state.

Percentage of Catholic Vote for Presidential Winners

1952: Eisenhower, 44%
1956: Eisenhower, 49%
1960: Kennedy, 78%
1964: Johnson, 76%
1968: Nixon, 33%
1972: Nixon, 52%
1976: Carter, 57%
1980: Reagan, 47%
1984: Reagan, 61%
1988: Bush, 49%
1992: Clinton, 47%
1996: Clinton, 55%
2000: Bush, 46%
2004: Bush, 48%
2008: Obama, 53%

(The figures above are from Gallup. In the three-way race of 1968, Nixon lost the Catholic vote to Hubert Humphrey by a margin of 59 percent to 33 percent, but managed to squeak out a victory, since much of the Southern Protestant vote went to George Wallace. In 1972, however, Mr. Nixon’s 52 percent broke the Democratic lock on the Catholic vote.)

Finally, it may be that in some years a particular factor affects a significant slice of Catholic voters more than most others — the chance to elect the first Catholic president in 1960, for instance.

And Catholics tend to identify themselves as Catholics long after they have ceased going to church (“born Catholic” or “non-practicing Catholic,” these tend to qualify their identity). The difference in voting patterns between Catholics who go to Mass at least weekly and those who don’t is in some matters (partial-birth abortion, e.g.) unusually large. In 2012, I expect the defense of religious liberty to cut as deeply against Obama as 3 million Catholic voters or more. Worth watching.

 

Michael Novak is distinguished visiting professor at Ave Maria University and co-author, with Jana Novak, of Washington’s God.

CNN Poll: Huckabee GOP Frontrunner, Beats Obama 52-44 Percent

We have always sensed a spark of greatness in Governor Mike Huckabee. Perhaps after another two years of gangster government in the White House, the times will find the leader America needs.

From Talking Points Memo

A newly-released CNN poll, conducted a few days before this past midterm election, shows President Obama in for a competitive race in 2012, with him trailing two potential Republican candidates and leading two others among registered voters.

The numbers:

• Mike Huckabee leads Obama by 52%-44%. In the previous CNN poll from April, Obama led Huckabee by 54%-45%.

• Mitt Romney leads Obama by 50%-45%. In the previous CNN poll from April, Obama led Romney by 53%-45%.

• Obama edges out Newt Gingrich by 49%-47%. In the previous CNN poll from April, Obama led Gingrich by 55%-43%.

• Obama leads Sarah Palin by 52%-44%. In the previous CNN poll from April, Obama led Palin by 55%-42%.

The survey of registered voters has a ±3% margin of error.

As for the Republican nomination, nationwide GOP voters at this early juncture give Huckabee 21%, Romney 20%, Palin 14%, Gingrich 12%, Ron Paul 7%, plus 3% each for Haley Barbour, Mike Pence and Tim Pawlenty, and 2% for Rick Santorum. This question has a ±4.5% margin of error.

Santorum Announces Formation of Iowa PAC

From The Hill
By Elise Viebeck

Former Pa. Senator Rick Santorum (R) announced Thursday he has formed a political action committee in Iowa to donate "at least $25,000 to candidates before November."

The organization, to be known as the Iowa Keystone Political Action Committee, comes in addition to his federal PAC, "America's Foundation."

"I am eager to do more and the Iowa Keystone PAC will help us do that," Santorum said in a statement. "There are many strong conservatives running in Iowa and assisting them with financial support may help put them in the victory column come Election Day."

The announcement also noted he will appear in Iowa on Oct. 13 and 14 — his sixth trip to the state in recent months. The former two-term senator, who subscribes to what he calls "compassionate conservatism," has said he is considering a run for president in 2012. A poll conducted in mid-September at the annual Values Voters Summit ranked him sixth behind Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), former Govs. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), Sarah Palin (R-Ala.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Jews Turn Against Obama

From Newsmax
By Ronald Kessler

In a stunning turnaround, President Obama has lost roughly half of his support among Jewish voters.

A poll by McLaughlin and Associates found that, while 78 percent of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Obama, only 42 percent of Jewish voters would vote to re-elect him. A plurality — 46 percent — would consider voting for anyone else. That compares with 21 percent who voted for John McCain.

Ever since he learned of Obama’s ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, has been warning fellow Jews that Obama would be antithetical to Jewish interests, not only as they relate to Israel but also to issues that affect all Americans.

Before Obama was elected, Klein, whose organization of 30,000 members is the oldest pro-Israel group in the country, felt like a pariah. Now, as he speaks to Jewish audiences on a weekly basis, he has found that the climate has changed dramatically.

“As I speak at synagogues now around the country, I haven’t had a single person during Q and A or after my talk ask how I could be so critical of Obama,”

Klein tells Newsmax. Klein tells his audiences they should not be surprised that Obama’s left-leaning policies appear to tilt more toward the Palestinians than to Israelis. He cites the fact that Obama and his wife, Michelle, spent 20 years listening to Wright, who routinely denounced Israel as a racist state and America for allegedly having created the AIDS virus to kill off blacks.

Wright, whom Obama described as a mentor and sounding board, even gave an award for lifetime achievement to Louis Farrakhan.

“God damn America,” Wright shouted in one of his sermons.

Obama’s speeches have been “inimical to Israel and supportive of the stream of false Palestinian Arab claims concerning Israel,” Klein says. “He is relentlessly pressuring Israel while applying virtually almost no pressure on the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its written obligations. He is worse than Jimmy Carter was when he was president. It was so obvious if you just looked at Obama’s associations before he was elected. Jews simply ignored that.”

David Remnick’s book “The Ridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama” quotes an unidentified campaign aide to Hillary Clinton as saying that, if the stories about Wright’s ties to Obama had appeared in January 2008, “it would have been over,” meaning Hillary would have won the Democratic nomination for president.

In fact, as outlined in the Newsmax story "The Media’s Blackout on Rev. Wright," those stories on Wright were appearing as early as January 2008 — at Newsmax.com — but the mainstream media ignored them and would not pick them up until mid-March.

Before the election, Klein remembers, “If I talked about Reverend Wright in talks at synagogues, they would say I was using guilt by association. I would always explain you can’t say that. He chose this church. He chose to have a friendship with Wright because this is a person he is comfortable with and because Wright espouses views he believes in.”

Klein notes, “If a Jew was a member of a synagogue where the rabbi preached hatred of blacks, it would be clear that that Jew would be comfortable with anti-black racism. I couldn’t remain for a week at a synagogue where a rabbi made a hateful speech toward blacks. I’d quit immediately.”

But now the tide is turning, Klein says. As recently as last weekend, “At the synagogue where I spoke, two of my most left-wing lunatic friends were saying, ‘My God, Mort, you were right. I never should have voted for Obama.’”

Several Jewish leaders have turned against Obama as well, Klein says, some openly and some behind the scenes because they do not want to cut off ties with a president. Klein quotes one of the most prominent Jewish leaders as having told him recently, “It’s better if I’m on the inside than the outside. So there’s no point in my publicly criticizing him because then I won’t have influence.”

“What influence?” Klein asks rhetorically. “It felt so good to so many of liberals to be voting for the first black man to run for president that nothing else mattered,” Klein says. “They felt good proving that they are not racist.”

Only 17 percent of Orthodox Jews now would vote to re-elect Obama, according to the McLaughlin poll. Among conservative Jews, 38 percent would vote for him again. Fifty-two percent of reform Jews would re-elect him. Among Jews who have been to Israel, 36 percent now would cast their ballots for him. When polled, 12 percent responded they did not know or refused to answer.

“The majority of Jews now realize that this guy is bad for Israel, let alone bad for America,” Klein says.

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com.

Ariz House: Check Obama's Citizenship

The Arizona House on Monday voted for a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot when he runs for reelection.

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Governor Palin Resigns, Campaign 2012 Begins

We have opposed ever-longer presidential campaigns. Not this time. The presidential campaign of 2012 can't begin soon enough, and 2012 cannot come soon enough. It is too early to say if Governor Palin will be our choice; but we will enthusiastically support the fiscal and social conservative with the best chance of ending this anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-life, anti-family, and anti-capitalist regime. Given Governor Palin's extraordinary drawing power and demonstrated influence in the Georgia Senate race, we suspect she may be our candidate.

CNN Poll Has Huckabee and Palin Leading Potential 2012 GOP Presidential Picks

From LifeNews
By Steven Ertelt

The third major poll since the elections to survey Republican voters on their preference for a presidential candidate in 2012 finds Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin topping the list. Palin led in the two previous polls while Huckabee finished in the top three along with Mitt Romney.

The CNN poll asked Republicans to pick from among a group of several candidates and Huckabee received the support of 34 percent of the Republicans and Republican-leaning voters in the poll.

Palin garnered 32 percent while Romney placed third with 28 percent.

Looking at other candidates, former House Speaker New Gingrich gets 27 percent, 23 percent back pro-abortion former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gets 19 percent.

Oddly enough, the CNN poll finds Palin doing better with men while Huckabee fares better with women.

“It might come as a surprise to some that Palin does better than Huckabee among GOP men but that Huckabee beats Palin among Republican women,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Palin's strength is also concentrated among older Republicans, but Huckabee may have a slight edge among conservative Republicans."

Huckabee has a 9 percentage point lead with evangelical Republicans while Palin leads by 7 with those who are not evangelicals.

A November Zogby poll found 24.4 percent said Palin was their top choice to face Obama in 2012. Romney came in second with the support of 18 percent, Jindal placed third with 15.6 percent, Huckabee came fourth with 9.7 percent, and 8.2 percent of Republicans said someone else was their top choice.

The Zogby poll found Palin stealing Huckabee's thunder among Republican religious conservatives and working class voters. Huckabee's highest GOP totals still come from born-again Christians (15%) and weekly churchgoers (18%), but those numbers are about half of those drawn by Palin.

The Zogby survey follows a Gallup poll LifeNews.com reported on showing Palin leading and Romney and Huckabee second and third.

Gallup interviewed Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and asked whether certain potential candidates should run or not.

Some 67 percent of Republicans said Palin should run, helping her top the list. Another 62 percent wanted to see Romney run, and 61 percent favored Huckabee.

The rest of the potential names came in at under 50 percent, in some cases because they are not as well known. Jindal received the backing of 34 percent of Republicans but his numbers were low because 30 percent of GOP voters had no opinion and are apparently not familiar with him.