For me, one of the most important moments of any of the debates came in the Tempe event when Kerry highlighted his Catholicism and what his faith means to him as a leader. He didn’t get a fraction of the post-debate attention — after all, have you heard Mary Cheney is a lesbian? — but I think the target audience may have heard the message anyway.
As a reminder, here’s what Kerry said, in response to a question about some archbishops coming out against him.
“I grew up a Catholic. I was an altar boy. I know that throughout my life this has made a difference to me. And as President Kennedy said when he ran for president, he said, ‘I’m not running to be a Catholic president. I’m running to be a president who happens to be Catholic.’
“My faith affects everything that I do, in truth. There’s a great passage of the Bible that says, ‘What does it mean, my brother, to say you have faith if there are no deeds? Faith without works is dead.’ And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.
“That’s why I fight against poverty. That’s why I fight to clean up the environment and protect this earth. That’s why I fight for equality and justice. All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith.
“But I know this, that President Kennedy in his inaugural address told all of us that here on Earth, God’s work must truly be our own. And that’s what we have to — I think that’s the test of public service.”
It was a moment of sincerety that, it seemed to me, was likely to strike a chord with Catholic voters. And now there’s polling data to suggest it may have had the intended effect.
The Pew Research Center released a poll yesterday, which, as Amy Sullivan noted, showed Kerry making strong gains among white Catholics.
Previous Pew Forum polls have shown Bush with a consistent advantage among the same group of voters. That lead has clearly shifted to Kerry. Consider these trends among white Catholics:
Sept. 17-21 — Bush 47, Kerry 38
Sept. 22-26 — Bush 49, Kerry 39
Oct. 1-3 — Bush 49, Kerry 33
Oct. 15-19 — Kerry 50, Bush 43
That’s a stunning turn-around. It’s also compelling evidence that Kerry’s goal in the debates worked.