President Obama is trying to repair his relationship with Catholic voters following a policy dispute over contraceptives even as Republicans are trying to convince voters that the president has declared war on religion.
“Catholic voters will be the swing vote this year,” Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, told thousands of conservative voters at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
Since winning 54 percent of the Catholic vote in 2008, the president’s approval rating among Catholics had fallen to 39 percent in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll. And Republicans are eagerly trying to drive that wedge between Obama and Catholics even deeper.
“Our religious freedoms are under attack by the Obama administration,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a former presidential contender, told CPAC. “This administration is assaulting the Catholic Church.”
Catholic anger at Obama was sparked by his proposal that religiously affiliated employers, including hospitals, charities and other nonprofit organizations, provide contraceptives under their employee health plans even though the church itself opposes the use of contraceptives. Church leaders said the requirement infringed on their religious beliefs.
The backlash was quick and intense. Over the last couple weeks, more than 70 percent of Catholic bishops read statements at Mass opposing the new mandate, said Scott Rasmussen, founder of Rasmussen Reports.
Obama responded last week by reversing the policy, saying that insurance companies themselves would be required to provide free access to birth control directly to employees if the employer objects on religious grounds.
“I understand some folks in Washington want to treat this as another political wedge issue,” Obama said, announcing the change. “But it shouldn’t be. I certainly never saw it that way.”
Despite the change, Republicans remained unrelenting in their criticisms.
“The president might have shuffled the deck, but he’s playing the same game,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind.
Characterizing Obama’s proposal as a “war on faith,” Perry said, “We must win this war.”
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson said the original policy was evidence that Obama is abusing his executive power and meddling in peoples’ private affairs.
“The choice is between you setting your own agenda or Barack Obama setting it for you,” said Erickson, editor of the influential conservative blog RedState.com.
Religious scholar Gary Laderman said he was shocked that Obama didn’t foresee the fierce political backlash of his decision.
“It’s clearly surprising that the president wasn’t prepared for this kind of firestorm,” said Laderman, a professor at Emory University.
Still, Laderman said, it’s unlikely that the policy flip-flop is going to seriously undermine Obama’s support among Catholics in November.
“You can’t just generalize about the Catholic vote,” he said, noting that many Catholics use birth control. “Judging by what’s in the media, you get the sense that Catholics are all conservatives, but they are very active on both sides of the issue.”
Laderman said the economy remains the most important issue for Catholics in the general election, not Obama’s policies on birth control coverage.
