{"id":17568,"date":"2012-10-10T15:48:24","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T19:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=17568"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:02:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:02:36","slug":"meet-an-undecided-catholic-voter-african-american-widow-from-ohio-who-attends-mass-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/10\/meet-an-undecided-catholic-voter-african-american-widow-from-ohio-who-attends-mass-daily\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet an undecided Catholic voter: African-American widow from Ohio who attends Mass daily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From CNN<\/a><\/strong>, an interesting glimpse at someone who could hold the future in her hands:<\/p>\n

The economy is Topic A for many in this battleground state as the November 6 election nears. They want to hear the presidential candidates answer the question: How will they get America working again? Voters here also care about poverty and social justice, core issues for Ohio\u2019s large Catholic population.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[Mary] Roberts straddles several demographic categories the campaigns want to win over: She is a practicing Catholic \u2014 and since 1972, no president has won office without taking the nation\u2019s Catholic vote. She is over 65 \u2014 and seniors vote with greater regularity than any other age group. She is African-American \u2014 and while African-Americans came out in record numbers to vote for Barack Obama in the last election, some experts question whether they will turn out again in the numbers the president needs to win.<\/p>\n

Roberts has always been an Independent. She says she votes the person, not the party.<\/p>\n

She has stopped watching her cherished TV shows \u201cJeopardy!\u201d and \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d until after the election because there are just too many negative campaign commercials. \u201cAnd now they\u2019re even calling me on my cell phone,\u201d she says. \u201cThey called my home phone so much, my voicemail was full, and no one else could reach me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calls and ads from the campaigns won\u2019t persuade her. What will help her make up her mind is seeing the candidates in person. She attends both parties\u2019 rallies. Body language is revealing, she says. A candidate\u2019s sincerity counts.<\/p>\n

The moderate views of Republican hopeful Mitt Romney resonate with her. She thinks his business experience could better guide the economy. But lately, she has seen ads saying Romney\u2019s company, Bain Capital, sent jobs overseas. \u201cThat makes me nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she\u2019s also bothered by the way conservatives often talk about the poor: as if they deserve to be just that. She doesn\u2019t buy the assertion that the government should stay out of people\u2019s lives, at least financially. Or that unfettered competition between corporations will allow Americans who work hard enough to share in this country\u2019s riches.<\/p>\n

The lives of her broad inner circle prove otherwise, she says.<\/p>\n

Roberts voted for Obama in 2008. She admired his fearless rhetoric about change. Today, she\u2019s torn. She says his actions haven\u2019t been bold enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hurt because I\u2019m on the fence about him, just hurt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From CNN, an interesting glimpse at someone who could hold the future in her hands: The economy is Topic A for many in this battleground state as the November 6 election nears. They want to hear the presidential candidates answer the question: How will they get America working again? Voters here also care about poverty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,48],"tags":[644,11190],"class_list":["post-17568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-the-people-in-the-pews","tag-ohio","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet an undecided Catholic voter: African-American widow from Ohio who attends Mass daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From CNN, an interesting glimpse at someone who could hold the future in her hands: The economy is Topic A for many in this battleground state as the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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