Religion & Law

I take it as a given that the votes of Catholic voters can be accounted for by social and economic factors unrelated to their religion (I do not know this is true; but I will assume it).  This does not rule out the possibility that every Catholic comes to conclusions by his or her understanding of the requirements of Catholicism. I do not know how many Catholics fit that description consciously (the data do not speak to it), but, at the unconscious level, a Catholic background has a powerful pull. Given that, why could sociologists explain the votes (in the aggregate ? if they were trying to explain individual votes they would be wrong in tens of millions of cases) by social and economic factors. I think it is because Catholicism as understood by the Catholic population can lead one toward Democrats or Republicans. As a sociological matter, it does not dictate outcomes.
Patrick and Michael note that a large majority of Catholics (unlike, I think, the majority of authors on this site) do not form their conscience according to the lead of the Pope and the Bishops. The majority of American Catholics are, therefore,  characterized by Patrick and Michael as not orthodox, and I think the characterization is reasonable. But I think it would be wrong to say that a majority of Catholics who do not follow the lead of the Pope and the Bishops are not devout.  For the most part, I think they do not follow the lead of the Pope and the Bishops because they do not see the Holy Spirit in many of the statements made by the leaders of the Church. They would not see the problem as a failure of catechesis. They would see it as a failure of Church leaders to understand the Gospel message.   
To be sure, many of those who have made this assessment of the message of Church leaders leave the Church or do not go to mass regularly (these persons may still believe in God and try to follow God?s demands for their lives ? claims about a God gap are misleading); but tens of millions are regular participants in the life of the Church. They do not identify the Church with Church leaders (though they have been influenced by them in countless ways, and the Pope plays a special symbolic role); they identify with the People of God. They love the Church ? its ritual, the communion of saints, its creed, and most of its social teachings - though it is not precisely the same Church the orthodox love.