The most obvious sign of the strength of the Catholic-evangelical alliance is the wide support of evangelicals for Catholic Rick Santorum in the Republican primary races.
Time magazine (April 2) notes that the force propelling Santorum to his unexpected victories is his “devout and driven network of social conservatives,” made up of religious leaders, anti-abortion activists, homeschooling advocates and Christian businessmen. What is striking about the Christian right support for Santorum is its high level of unity compared to previous campaigns.
In the previous presidential campaign, conservative Christians were split between several candidates, with Pat Robertson inexplicably throwing his support behind socially liberal Rudy Giuliani.In the current campaign, candidates were more carefully vetted, with about 150 religious leaders voting for Santorum by a ratio of 3 to 1. That Santorum, a conservative Catholic, has become “a standard bearer for a resurgent Christian right” has surprised most observers.
But according to a recent Pew Poll, 35 percent of evangelical Republican voters believe Santorum is a fellow evangelical, more than the percentage that correctly identified him as a Catholic. Other religious factors may also be at work in the high evangelical support for Santorum, including the problems evangelicals have with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism.