Catholics a Key Voting Bloc in Ohio

In this primary season, exit poll have shown that Catholics represent roughly 1 in 4 votes.

Republican Catholics often cite abortion as the top issue, but for Catholics who are Democrats, other issues are more dominant.

In the Democratic race so far between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton has been the choice among Catholics. She will need their support to carry the crucial states of Texas and Ohio for the March 4 primaries.

In contests held through Super Tuesday, exit polls indicated that Clinton overwhelmingly won the Catholic vote. In delegate-rich states such as California, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, the Catholic vote went for Clinton by a margin of 2 to 1. She also racked up big margins in New Mexico and Arizona and won the demographic in every state except Missouri and Georgia.

In the coming Ohio primary — seen as a must-win for Clinton — the Buckeye State's large population of older, white Catholics is a strategic focus. Both campaigns know it, but that does not make their jobs easy, according to the Pew Center's John Greene, who studies the intersection of religion and politics.

"There certainly is no Catholic bloc vote these days, like there may have been, say, in the 1960 election, when John F. Kennedy was running for election and the first Catholic was elected to the White House," Green says.

It could be that Clinton has done well with Catholics because so many are blue collar, or because they are older — two categories of voters that Clinton has carried. But, Green also points out that exit polls from the Wisconsin primary on Feb. 19 indicate that the "Catholic gap" that Clinton has enjoyed could be evaporating. There is a possibility that Clinton and Obama could split the Catholic vote.

At Jug's Bowling Center in a heavily Catholic, mostly working-class section of Toledo, Ohio, Wednesday nights are league nights.