Last modified: Thursday, March 13, 2008 1:17 AM EDT Catholic voters help boost Clinton campaign BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton is a Methodist who takes opposing views from the Catholic Church on bedrock issues such as abortion and stem cell research, but Clinton manages to win an overwhelming majority of Catholic votes in Democratic primaries. The support has propelled Clinton, D-N.Y., to comfortable victories over Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in states with large Catholic populations. Clinton received 63 percent of the Catholic vote in Ohio and more than 60 percent in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and California. Political observers say Catholic voters are ignoring her stand on social issues such as abortion and are backing her for a number of other reasons, many having to do with economics. Ray Flynn, the former mayor of Boston and ambassador to the Vatican, said Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have always enjoyed good support from Catholics because they are identified so closely with issues involving "social and economic justice." Flynn said the Clintons back the kind of policies on health care, job creation, taxes and law enforcement appreciated by working class people, including Catholics. A supporter of Hillary Clinton, Flynn said he has been campaigning for her in Pennsylvania, where there are large pockets of Irish and Polish Catholics, making the state fertile ground for her candidacy. "Most Catholics see her as someone they can identify with," he said. When Rhode Islanders went to the polls March 4, they overwhelmingly supported Clinton - and Catholics were a key to her victory. Outside St. Theresa's Church in Pawtucket, Mike Newman said he voted for Clinton because of the economic record of her husband. He said he is a Catholic and an officer in the Knights of Columbus, but he supported Hillary Clinton because she has a similar attitude as the church when it comes to caring for the less fortunate. "You have to take care of the people, and that is what the church does," he said. Flynn said Catholics like him disagree strongly with the Clintons on issues such as abortion, but support them on other issues. Charles Dunn, dean of the school of government at Regents College, said Hillary Clinton is putting together the same type of political coalition that gained Franklin D. Roosevelt the presidency four times. The coalition included minorities, unions and Catholics. He also said Clinton is doing well among Catholics because her competition in the Democratic primaries is Obama, who is less attractive to Catholics. "They have nothing to gain by going with Obama on moral issues of deep concern to Roman Catholics," said Dunn, who specializes on the role of religion in politics. There are also other demographics at work in the Catholic support for Clinton. She is getting the majority of the votes from Hispanics, and Hispanics tend to be Catholic. Clinton's strongest demographic is older white women, and Catholics are disproportionately older women. Dunn warns, however, that if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, Catholic support for her could evaporate in the general election against Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona. He said McCain has the ability to pull together President Ronald Reagan's coalition of independents, moderates, blue-collar workers and Catholics to go with traditional conservative Republicans. McCain's moderate politics and his "pro-life, anti-abortion" record could "peel off Catholic votes" if he stresses the social issues, dooming Clinton's candidacy, Dunn said. JIM HAND covers politics for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.