Thirty-five million poor hearing little about themselves in campaigns

Published: 2004-08-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Try typing the word "poverty" into the search functions of the Web sites for the presidential campaigns of President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry and it might seem as though it's only a problem in other, distant parts of the world. While both candidates talk all the time about how they intend to improve the economic situations of middle-class voters, neither so far has devoted much campaign effort to the problems of the 35 million Americans living below the poverty line. When Kerry or Bush mentions the word poverty in stump speeches, it's usually in references to fighting poverty to prevent terrorism, or as a strategy in combating HIV/AIDS internationally. "I'm not thrilled with either party's take on addressing poverty," said Jesuit Father Thomas Massaro, a moral theology professor at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and author of the1998 book, "Catholic Social Teaching and U.S. Welfare Reform." Although both candidates emphasize their plans to improve the financial lot of the middle class, he said, "nobody's talking about upward mobility for the poorest people, about people at the bottom of the job market." Father Massaro said both campaigns are responding to the political reality that "the poor don't vote," or at least, not in significant enough numbers to make their concerns a priority.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .