How Trump and Biden are courting Catholic voters americamagazine.org

In recent years, Catholic voters, a once-reliable Democratic constituency, have been up for grabs.

With a little more than three months to go until the Nov. 3 election, the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are each making efforts to attract Catholic voters, a once-reliable Democratic constituency that in recent years has been up for grabs. The campaigns and their surrogates say the choice is stark, each highlighting issues they believe will appeal to their kinds of Catholic voters: those motivated primarily by abortion and those who see in the last four years a turn away from caring for society’s most marginalized.

Mr. Biden has spoken frequently about his own faith while talking to voters, especially in the early primary states. His campaign has so far courted voters motivated by their faith by inserting “values” language into outreach aimed at traditional Democratic cohorts, such as women, Hispanics and L.G.B.T. people. The Biden campaign also plans to announce a group of high-profile Catholics endorsing the former vice president later this summer. In the meantime, the campaign launched a “Believers for Biden” online campaign, which includes virtual conversations with campaign staff and weekly prayer reflections.

The Biden campaign recently hired a faith outreach director, and it has specifically targeted Jewish, Muslim and even Republican-leaning evangelical Christian voters, but it is seeking to imbue Mr. Biden’s entire message with language informed by faith and values. A recent campaign ad from the Biden campaign, for example, includes an image of a priest standing in a hospital room. As for Catholic voters specifically, John McCarthy, a staffer on the Biden campaign, said Mr. Biden’s personal story, as well the campaign’s theme, will speak directly to faith voters.