Despite a flagging economy and energized opposition, President Obama assembled a winning coalition that delivered him a second term in the White House. Yet even in the wake of this successful election, it is important to note that the championing of liberal social issues that formed a key part of the Obama campaign\u2019s rhetoric poses a long-term threat to the Democratic Party\u2019s electoral chances.<\/p>\n
Rhetoric matters. And rhetoric created cracks even in Obama\u2019s winning coalition, cracks that show up when we look at the exit polling. The Pew Forum found that Obama\u2019s margins held fairly steady among most religious and racial groups\u2014white evangelical Protestants, black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics\u2014but dropped markedly among white Catholics.<\/p>\n
The University of Akron\u2019s John Green believes that this drop came because of the Obama administration\u2019s embrace\u2014and vocal defense\u2014of the so-called HHS Mandate. As The Denver Post\u2019s Eric Gorski wrote, \u201c[T]hose unlikely to be swayed by the bishops\u2019 focus on abortion may have been more open to the religious liberty argument, even if they disagree with (and ignore) the church\u2019s ban on artificial contraception.\u201d Green and Gorski are right. Despite carefully targeted ads suggesting Republicans wanted to ban contraception (no Republican candidate has made such a proposal), Obama actually lost ground among women, winning 55 percent of female votes versus 56 percent in 2008. Obama\u2019s vocal backing of liberal social issues may have energized activists, but it did not sway many swing voters.<\/p>\n