Since losing them two-to-one to Hillary Clinton in Ohio last month, Barack Obama has tried his hardest to win over Catholics. To wit:
1. Obama recently became the first presidential candidate to hire a fulltime Catholic outreach director.
2. Ten days ago, Obama launched a Catholic National Advisory Council, comprising of dozens of senators, congressmen, and activists.
3. Obama has crisscrossed Pennsylvania with Senator Bob Casey, Jr., the state’s highest-ranking Catholic officeholder.
4. Obama’s campaign has helped organize Catholics to do public service coinciding with the Pope’s visit to the United States.
But a new McClatchy/MSNBC/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poll suggests that Obama doesn’t have much to show for his efforts. Among Catholics, Clinton leads 63-percent to 30-percent. McCain, meanwhile, leads nationally among Catholics, despite his controversial John Haggee endorsement and his anemic religious outreach, according to another recent poll. Can Obama’s Catholic problem be his biggest stumbling block come November?

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