You asked a question, I answered it. You didn’t like the answer so you call it “weak” and “partisan” as if to slay the messenger. Maybe the statistics from 1960 are more interesting or comforting to you but I live in the present.

Whatever going back to FDR, they matter as a voting bloc now and going forward even more so.

“flat out wrong”? You are in denial brother.

There is no need for arguing a straw man point so as to make a larger partisan point. It’s weak.

Whatever going back to FDR, they matter as a voting bloc now and going forward even more so. Unfortunately for McCain since he was a voice of moderation on illegal immigration, it appears they blame the Republican party for most of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and will punish McCain for that at the polls, right or wrong. You will see a large Hispanic turnout in Nov and that will be a major motivator, guaranteed. It will also impact the final numbers on the Catholic vote.

“Hispanics are breaking heavily for Obama which will give him the Catholic vote this year by a couple pts.”

Maybe. I have no doubt they will break heavily for Obama, but how many will vote? The numbers are always lower, sometimes significantly, than their (estimated) percentage of the population. Look at the numbers out of California. That will not be true in the future, but from FDR to 2004 Hispanics don’t matter much as a voting group, so no “whistling past the graveyard.”

June Gallup Results:

Among major U.S. religious groups, Catholic voters are most closely divided in their presidential voting preferences, with Barack Obama holding a narrow 47% to 43% advantage over John McCain. McCain leads Obama among Protestants (48% to 41%) and Mormons (70% to 23%) while Obama holds the upper hand among Jewish voters (62% to 29%) and those with no religious affiliation (65% to 25%).

These results are based on aggregated Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from June 5-23, with all 14,000+ interviews conducted after Hillary Clinton decided to end her presidential bid. During this time, Obama averaged a 46% to 43% lead over McCain among all registered voters.

Catholics have traditionally been a key swing-voter group, and the 2008 election is proving to be no exception. Since Gallup began tracking general-election voting preferences in early March, the largest advantage either candidate has had among Catholics in any given week has been only five percentage points.