My folks are life-long, devout Catholics. And life-long devout Democrats. When I have lunch with them, we inevitably talk about politics, with me feeding them information and them asking questions. My mother shared with me a story about her recent experience at a prayer meeting (of all places) where she tipped an undecided over to Kerry. It provided an insight that I think will be valuable in talking to a certain share of Catholics (although certainly not all).
The acquaintance of my mother explained that he was undecided about the election.
"Undecided? What's there to be undecided about? Look how many people Bush has killed over there with his war," she said.
"Well," the man responded, "aren't you a Catholic? Don't you know that Kerry supports abortion? And the church is against abortion."
Keep in mind these are elderly New Mexicans, not the types who can be reasoned with about the nuance of "supporting choice" vs. "supporting abortion." But my mom said:
"Well the Church is also against the death penalty. And George Bush executed more people in Texas than any governor in history."
The man, along with several other people in the area, fell silent. Then, after a long pause, he began nodding his head. "Maybe that's what I needed to know," he said.
A certain portion of the "undecided" voters could be folks like this, who don't really want to vote for Bush but feel they have to because of religious obligation. If you're talking to a Catholic who is undecided, be sure to point out that whereas John Kerry has never performed an abortion, Bush has blood on his hands as the most murderous governor in American history.