http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/16/220729.shtml 

Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004 10:05 p.m. EDT

Police Union Backs Bush After Kerry Snub

The nation's largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, has endorsed President Bush after being insulted by Sen. John Kerry.

"This is the first time in the group's history that it has made a unanimous endorsement," FOP Executive Director Jim Pasco told Washington, D.C.'s Hill newspaper.

"Not only are we strongly supporting Bush, we're mad at Kerry," he explained. "Our members feel he treated them without respect - 318,000 cops."

Turns out the FOP sent the Kerry campaign a questionnaire to sound out the candidate's views, but he ignored it.

"He's galvanized our base against him," Pasco said. "It's just stupid."

Luckily for Kerry, his FOP snub and the group's decision to back Bush drew hardly any press coverage.

"The news media intentionally or unintentionally ignored this important endorsement by our nation's law enforcement community," complained Jim Kouri, vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

When the international firefighters union endorsed John Kerry, he noted, "the news media could hardly hold back their excitement when making the announcement."

Hog

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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/16/210534.shtml 

Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004 9:04 p.m. EDT

Catholics Support Bush in Battleground States

NewsMax.com's Fr. Michael Reilly says Catholic support for President Bush is strong and getting stronger.

In several key swing states, the latest Zogby polls indicate that Catholics are supporting Bush more than the general population and the reason may be his opposition to abortion.

For example, in Minnesota 60 percent of Catholics are planning to vote for Bush, while only 44 percent of the overall state voters support the president. While Kerry enjoys 51 percent of the state's voters in the survey, only 36 percent of Catholics plan to vote for him.

This is significant, because Catholics constitute about 25 percent of the state's voters.

Zogby's senior political writer Fritz Wenzel told Catholic News Services that "Concern about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq is being overridden by ongoing discomfort with Kerry's stand on abortion."

The trend in Minnesota is mirrored in four other important swing states.

In Iowa, Kerry leads Bush 51 percent to 47 percent, but trails 56 percent to 43 percent among Catholics, who make up 18 percent of the state's population.

In Wisconsin, Kerry leads 50 percent to 48 percent, but again trails among Catholic voters 56 percent to 42 percent in a state where Catholics make up 31 percent of the population.

In New Hampshire, Kerry leads Bush by a margin of 50 percent to 45 percent, but trails among Catholics 53 percent to 36 percent. New Hampshire is 27 percent Catholic.

In Pennsylvania, Kerry leads by a margin of 50 percent to 47 percent but Bush leads among Catholics 54 percent to 44 percent. Pennsylvania is 30 percent Catholic.

Catholics in the other swing states seem to follow the pattern of other voters in those states, and Kerry has actually won the support of Catholics in Nevada and New Mexico.

Hog