That’s the overwhelming verdict of the latest poll on President Obama’s invitation to speak this Sunday at Notre Dame’s commencement. The Quinnipiac University Poll shows that say Catholic voters favor keeping Obama on the program by a margin of 60-34–even higher than the general public, which approves of the invitation by 56-31 percent.
Weekly attenders also favor Obama staying on the dais, by a lower margin of 49-43 percent. As usual, white evangelical Protestants are more likely to want the Catholic university to disinvite the president, with 44 percent saying he should speak and 42 percent saying the invitation should be rescinded.
The poll also surveyed Catholics on their views of legal abortion, and the results trend as they have recently, mirroring the public at large:
Given four choices on abortion:
• 15 percent of all voters, including 13 percent of Catholics and 10 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be legal in all cases
• 37 percent of all voters, including 37 percent of Catholics and 19 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be legal in most cases
• 27 percent of all voters, including 28 percent of Catholics and 40 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be illegal in most cases
• 14 percent of all voters, including 16 percent of Catholics and 26 percent of observant Catholics, say abortion should be illegal in all cases.