The recent vote in Ohio is just one of a string of cases where voters show they mostly support abortion access to some extent (1). Polls show the same. (2) So why do Republicans (specifically Republican politicians, not necessarily Republican voters) keep trying to do something unpopular?
My (perhaps cynical) view of Republican politicians is that they’re the “do anything to win” party. They would take any stance and pull any trick if it would give them a better chance of winning. So why are they so stuck on a losing issue?
Unfortunately I do, much of my extended family is what I call consistent Catholic. They oppose the death sentence, are in favour of funding good education and social programs, and yet, somehow every election they vote R because the pope tells them too. The only silver linings are that I think most of them abstained rather than vote for Trump and that they all live in a hard Red state anyway so they probably won’t have much impact. Still drives me crazy though.
The Pope? Pope Francis is more “leftist” than some American leftist! Why do they feel that he would tell them to vote Republican? I don’t know how American Catholics perceive the church, I just hear a lot about evangelicals in the US
Catholics is pretty much the only major Christian denomination that leans left/Democrat in the US. I can’t think of a recent pope that advocated or implicitly encouraged a vote for Republicans.
US Catholic leadership is frequently right-wing and in conflict with Rome. Especially with the recent Pope telling them to quit the hateful rhetoric.