I toyed with where to put this thread - most Bush threads here are GD or Pit material, and at its heart this is an MPSIMS. I am in Dallas this week as a representative of the Virginia Knights of Columbus jurisdiction to the Supreme Convention. President Bush will be addressing our convention this afternoon.
To add a bit of GD flair, I’ll point out that a few days ago, the Democrats nominated the first Catholic to run for President in forty-four years; today, the Republican opponent addresses, by invitation, the leadership of the largest and most influential group of lay Catholics in the world.
The candidate of 1960, John F. Kennedy, was himself a Fourth Degree Knight. Mr. Kerry is not a Knight.
Interesting turn of events. In general, the Knights I’ve talked to here seem solidly behind Mr. Bush.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t KofC pretty much a conservative Catholic organization? I was under the impression that they’re more conservative than Catholics as a whole, and that their almost singular issue is being anti-abortion.
If that’s the case, then it makes sense that Kerry wouldn’t be a member, and that Bush would work with them. I’m not sure that translates into Catholics as a whole supporting Bush.
And if Bush pulled a Southern Culture on the Skids, then we’d come full circle with Eve.
Yes, the Knights are more concervative than Catholics as a whole. No, our focus ranges across the board – of course, we are anti-abortion, but that’s hardly a sole issue with us. We are, for example, premier sponsors of Special Olympics, and in Virginia ther Knights are the biggest single contributer to the cause of assisting the mentally challenged.
Ah, okay. I mostly got that impression from the radio this morning, as I was sleepily bumbling about the house; I thought they said that the KofC focus most of their attention on abortion. Maybe they were saying most of the Knight’s social issue energy goes into abortion, inasmuch as the Special Olympics aren’t exactly a font of controversy?
Perhaps. We spend more money on plenty of other issues than our anti-abortion efforts, but I agree that there’s no issue more contentious than abortion on our plate.
No I am not a knight. The better half of the men in my family are however, and just thispast weekend my wife and I attended an outing put on my the Knights in our town. I had a chance to discuss the issue with quite a few of them and the majority, if not every single on is voting for Kerry. It’s a simple conclusion, however, I am aware this is not the norm for all knights.
You should drop minty a note. You two could meet in person, or you could meet some of the other DFW Dopers who are currently trying to plan a get-together to visit the Dallas World Aquarium.
This wouldn’t happen to be the KofC over in Northeast Dallas, would it? Attended a wedding in a nice KofC hall there not long ago.
The event was in the Hyatt Reunion Hotel. Security was present but not overpowering. Everyone entering the venue had to pass through metal detectors.
There was no request for pledge-signing of any type.
Mr. Bush’s speech was very good. He spoke about his support for faith-based initiatives being on equal footing to apply for federal grants, and of course that received a great deal of applause. He also spoke about the defense of “Under God” in the Pledge, and since the Knights were the original impetus for that phrase’s inclusion, he was also well-received there.
It’s hard to imagine to many in that room were planning to vote Kerry, given the number of standing ovations Mr. Bush’s speech received.
An example: Mr. Bush chose not to voice his support for the death penalty, which, I suspect, would have netted him some uncomfortable silence from the crowd.
So it was “preaching to the choir” in the sense that he tailored his remarks to areas in which he and the Knights were in vociferous agreement, but you should not infer from that that the Knights are in agreement with all his positions.