Kaine is campaigning for the support of Catholics.
One of the main reasons, some would say, that Tim Kaine was asked to be the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate is to woo “Pope Francis Catholics,” reports Breitbart.
Tim Kaine to Woo “Pope Francis Catholics”[/tweetthis]
Both Pope Francis and Kaine are Jesuits, a sect of Catholicism that continues to serve those in need after Vatican II pushed the rest of the worldwide congregation towards and adherence to the moral codes and rules of the religion.
The aforementioned “Pope Francis Catholics” are the more liberally-minded Catholics, who in the past may have voted with the Republicans because of hot-button issues such as abortion.
But the Clinton campaign appears to be courting this group based on its choice for Vice President.
Kaine attended Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit school in Kansas City, MO, a fact that he is making clear on the campaign trail. He supports the choice of women based on Roe v. Wade, but is personally against abortion and has encouraged abstinence and putting newborn babies up for adoption as an alternative to ending pregnancies. His stance has earned him the support of Planned Parenthood in the past.
Catholics in America have seen their political clout grow in recent years. They used to vote Democrat almost exclusively, but now are divided, mostly by ethnicity. Hispanic Catholics (34 percent of U.S. Catholics) favor Clinton to Trump by a margin of 77 percent to 16 percent. White Catholics (nearly 60 percent of Catholics are white) prefer Trump, but by a much smaller margin, 50 percent to 46 percent.
Catholics have favored Republicans in recent elections, but in varying degree. John McCain beat Barack Obama by five points among white Catholics in 2008, but Mitt Romney beat Obama by 19 points among the same demographic in 2012.
In addition to attending a Jesuit high school, Kaine also did missionary work in Honduras in a program founded by Jesuit priests.
While it would seem that the Clinton campaign would naturally garner the growing group of Americans who are spiritual yet declare no religious affiliation, and those who are completely secular, now, with the choice of Tim Kaine as Vice President, it looks like they will tap into the Catholic vote as well.