The Francis Factor: How Will The Pope Influence The 2016 Election?

[DonViejo]

When Pope Francis visits the United States in two months and becomes the first pontiff to address Congress, his speech will be a seminal moment in American history. A pope who pumps fresh energy into the world’s most influential religious institution and humanizes the papacy will likely find his toughest audience in this country. Several polls released last week show both the challenges and opportunities that await a pope who denounces an “economy of exclusion” and in bracing language prods political leaders to wake up to the reality of climate change.

After enjoying sky-high approval ratings for the past two years, a new Gallup poll shows a swift decline in support for Pope Francis in the United States, driven largely by conservative angst. The pope’s overall favorability rating is now 59 percent, a significant dip from 76 percent early last year. Forty-five percent of conservatives now view the pope favorably, a stark decline from 72 percent who did a year ago.

Don’t quote me on this, but I think Jesus also took a hit in his poll numbers when he kicked the money changers out of the Temple, broke bread with prostitutes and reminded the religious elite that their obsession with the letter of the law missed the big picture. I doubt a pope who is focused on bringing those on the peripheries to the center of global debates is losing sleep over the finer points of Washington punditry or polling. This is a pope who still remains enormously popular and is arguably the most compelling moral leader in the world today. Coveting thy fellow leaders’ polling numbers is likely a sin, but most politicians would do anything to have the pope’s widespread appeal.

Pope Francis has put U.S. conservatives on the defensive by insisting that climate change and economic inequality are urgent moral issues that can’t be ignored. When the first pope from Latin America probes the underbelly of global capitalism—what he calls “an idolatrous system which excludes, debases and kills”—that drives a stake through the heart of conservative economic dogma and challenges a blind faith in free-market fundamentalism.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/pop-francis-2016-election

[Bluenorthwest]

1. Francis is a dishonest, anti gay bigot who is also the world's leading opponent of reproductive

rights for women. People who dig anti gay activists and those who organize against the rights of women and gay people through associations with March For Life, NOM, FRC and the Heritage Foundation love that guy.
To me, one religious bigot is the same as the next. This Pope says that gay couples who have kids are practicing child abuse and 'discrimination against the child in advance'. I don't care for that. You believe that, clearly. I don't.
He should not be addressing our Congress at all. But since you are happy about it, don't forget to send your thanks to Speaker Boehner for inviting Francis to Congress. You must really love the Speaker for doing that.

[patricia92243]

2. I think the Pope would influence people with more progressive ideas than they have had

in the past. This could, maybe, help Democrats. I'm not really sure.