On Rum, Romanism, Rebellion, and Contraceptive Mandates

The accommodator-in-chief cannot find consolation in a recent poll from Rasmussen. Liberals are quick to point to a PPP poll that show that 53% of Catholic woman essentially agree with the "great accommodator" when it come to forcing Catholic institutions' insurance providers to provide contraceptives free of charge to said institutions' employees. When polling, to get the right answer one must ask the right question. Below is the question that PPP asked.

"Some people say that institutions such as Catholic hospitals and universities should be exempted from the requirement that health plans cover prescription birth control with no additional out of pocket costs, because contraception runs counter to Catholic teachings. Other people say that women of all faiths who are employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women. Which view do you agree with -- Catholic hospitals and universities should be exempted from covering prescription birth control, or that women who are employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women?"

Aside from being ambiguous the question contains load diction such as " have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women". PPP or Public Policy Polling knows this is a bad polling question but it is intending to force an answer favorable to Democratic politicians. While I frequently cite PPP's date in election polls I also frequently make the caveat that PPP works exclusively for Democrat clients. A simple question such as "who do you favor Santorum, Romney, Gingrich, or Paul?" does not lend itself to individual interpretation as does the above concatenation of liberal code words.

The Rasmussen poll paints an entirely different picture. Here 28% of Catholic women side with Obama and 65% oppose his "accommodation". The most stunning finding is that while 54% of Catholics voted for Obama only 39% now approve of the job he is doing. New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are key battleground states. They are also the states with the largest numbers of Catholic voters. The issue also puts the president's unpopular health care law back in the news. Voters already believe that law will increase the cost of health care, and most also believe the decision on contraceptive coverage will add even more costs. Do not believe those who say Obama may have found a winning issue. He could not have fumbled worse had he repeated Samuel Burchard's Rum Romanism and Rebellion speech.