Conservatives have been complaining loudly about Obama giving the commencement speech at Notre Dame because of his pro-choice views. Aside from the personal hypocrisy of some of the critics, there's a more disconcerting reality conservatives need to face. Students at Notre Dame supported Obama over John McCain. According to the Dayton Daily News, 52 percent of Notre Dame students supported Obama in a mock election held last year.
52 is also the percentage of the Catholic vote Obama won in the November election, over John McCain's 45 percent. There are a number of conservative Catholic organizations and figures taking shots at Obama over his appearance at Notre Dame, but they don't appear to represent the opinion of the majority of students at Notre Dame or Catholic voters in general.
UPDATE: I should have been more clear, the notion that Obama represents "anti-Catholic values" doesn't really jibe with his support among Catholics, unless you're willing to argue that a majority of Catholics are also anti-Catholic.
-- A. Serwer
