Conservative Classifieds

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In the 1960s, Catholics overwhelmingly supported John F. Kennedy, the only Catholic elected to the White House. In recent years, many have moved toward Republican candidates, drawn by the party's opposition to abortion. In the last presidential election, some U.S. bishops were outspoken in criticizing Catholic politicians who support abortion rights in conflict with church teaching, including 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

President Bush, a Methodist who opposes abortion rights, won 52 percent of the Catholic vote against Kerry, the practicing Catholic, in 2004.

This election, available exit polls show Clinton with a 61-35 percent edge over Obama among Catholic voters. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed her leading Obama 70-24 percent among Pennsylvania Catholics.

Clinton is a Methodist and Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ. Both candidates support abortion rights.

Analysts wonder whether Clinton is doing well with some Catholics because they also are part of her base, including Hispanics, blue-collar voters and older women. With traditional Democrats who are Catholic, the perception is that Clinton is more of a known quantity who paid her dues in the party.

David Leege, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, contends that a strong woman leader who can make it in a man's world appeals to a generation of Catholic women who worked outside the home before most of their Protestant neighbors.

''For many of them, Hillary Rodham Clinton represents a hero,'' he said.

A woman candidate appeals to Dorothy Bouselli, 81, a Catholic who joined other senior citizens at the Dunmore Community Center outside of Scranton for a lunch of pierogis, the potato-filled, Eastern European-style dumplings.

''It's time for a woman to come in and clean house,'' Bouselli said.

Margaret Palukonis, 87, a former bakery worker from Throop who is also a Catholic, said she started questioning Obama's message of change when she heard comments from Wright in which he said ''God damn America'' for its treatment of minorities.

''America is a wonderful, wonderful country,'' Palukonis said. ''If people don't like America, why do they stay here? Don't stay here. I wouldn't stay here if I didn't like it. We like it. We like it like it is. We don't want a change.''

Palukonis said she opposes abortion, but doesn't think it's an issue that belongs in politics.

In Pennsylvania, many Democrats were outraged in 1992 when party leaders denied Gov. Casey a prime-time spot to speak out against abortion at the Democratic convention that nominated Clinton's husband.

In 2006, Casey's son handily defeated Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a fellow Catholic, by winning a majority of the Catholic vote and gaining back some voters who had shifted to the Republican Party. Like his father, the younger Casey opposes abortion rights.

Even he acknowledges that a ''Casey Democrat'' is difficult to define. He noted that while his father was socially conservative, he was progressive in appointing women and minorities and going after polluters, as well as starting Pennsylvania's children's health insurance program.

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