PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA

AMEN

Election Day

We pray that today will be a new chapter in American history where we move from the divisive and bitter partisan politics that have torn this country down and we move forward to a bright and new future.

We pray that the election will go well with no flaws and that the vitriolic forces that seek to divide this country will live with the outcome and join us as we move the country forward.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespass at Three Columbus, Ohio area Churches

We finished out the day visiting Immaculate Conception in Columbus, The St. Thomas More Newman Center at Ohio St. and St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin, OH.

At Immaculate Conception we found evidence of the McCain Trespassers. One flier was even attached to the Church pickup truck. See picture below. We also found one flier on the ground, apparently read and then "discarded" by a well meaning Catholic. See picture below. We removed all the remaining fliers we could find.

At the Newman Center we found a couple cars from a earlier mass with fliers which we removed, but no sign of McCain trespassers for the late morning mass.

Also was the same at St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin. Some cars had fliers apparently from the mid morning mass that we removed, but as the noon mass began to park there was no sign of any more McCain Tresspasers.

We eagerly await other reports of the McCain campaigns trespassing this Sunday.

Obnoxious McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespass on parking lot of St. Michaels Catholic Church in Worthington, Ohio

This was by far the most obnoxious group we ran into all day. There were about ten volunteers fanned out across the parking lot of St. Michaels in Worthington, Ohio. Not only were McCain Campaign Volunteers trespassing on the Church lot, but also volunteers from Ohio Right to Life and The Ohio Christian Alliance. It was pure mayhem and apparent coordination between the McCain Campaign and outside groups.

We asked them all if they had permission from the pastor to be there. They all of course declined to answer that and instead told us they had a right to be there and exercise their free speech. We reminded them that they were on private property. They advised us if we removed their fliers then it was "felony".

They became quite confrontational and would not leave when asked to politely. At one point, one of the gentleman began posturing as if he would get physical with us.

They reminded us that we were baby killers even though they new little else about us other than we were reminding them of their trespass and photographing it.

After they covered all the cars in the lot, they left. We then removed all of their fliers, sometimes two and three deep on the cars.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Invade and Trespass at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio

These ladies, volunteering for the McCain Campaign, were busy putting GOP paid for fliers on the cars in the private parking lot of St. Timothy's Catholic Church, when we pulled up.

They were a team of 6 and quickly fanned out to perform their unwanted partisan activity on Church property. When asked if they had the permission of the pastor to be there, they said they did not. They advised that they had the permission of "Catholics for McCain" to be there. We asked them if they wanted to go inside and ask the pastor and we even volunteered to go with them. We advised them that it was not the policy of the Diocese or the Catholic Conference of Ohio to distribute unofficial literature on Church property. We advised them that they were trespassing as well.

They quickly packed up and left only to park up the street, maybe to wait us out. We waited with them for awhile and then they drove away.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespassing at St. Andrews Catholic Church - Upper Arlington, Ohio

These McCain Campaign Volunteers trespassed on the property of St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Upper Arlington, Ohio this morning to place partisan and divisive campaign literature on cars of unsuspecting parishioners in the parking lot. In one of the pictures, one can clearly see the McCain Campaign Tee Shirts and hats.

When asked if the pastor of the Church had given them permission to be there, they said no. They were reminded that they were trespassing and that the Church had asked that only Church approved materials be distributed on Church property.

Not only were they handing out the McCain /GOP fliers but they also had fliers from the Ohio Christian Coalition. Apparently the McCain Campaign is coordinating its efforts with outside groups. tsk tsk

Their activities soon caught the eye of a special duty police officer there, normally for traffic duty. He advised them that the pastor had asked him to watch for trespassers distributing political materials this Sunday and to ask them to leave. He did so after making them remove the offending materials they had already placed. They removed their fliers and left the parking lot.

The GOP - McCain Flyer used on Catholic Church Lots

This is a photo of the flier placed on cars at Catholic Churches by trespassing McCain volunteers this Sunday in Ohio. Note the flier is paid for by the Ohio GOP. It is the same flier used by the Bush Campaign in 2004, only updated with new pictures and some language change.

Despite calls by the Bishops, parishes and Dioceses to not trespass on Church Property, the GOP saw fit to distribute these fliers meant to misinform and divide Catholics.

Catholics are not being fooled this year.

McCain Campaign Politicking at St. Brendans Catholic Church in Hilliard Ohio

Volunteers from the McCain campaign trespassed on the property of St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Hilliard, OH this morning and placed flyer's paid for by the Ohio GOP on parishioners windshields. The trespassers were gone when we arrived, but the evidence was left. We ran into a rather busy Church employee who was busy removing the offensive, divisive and partisan materials from the cars so parishioners could go home in peace after the sanctity of the mass.

Shame on the McCain campaign for bringing politics onto Church property this election season.

McCain Campaign politics in Catholic Church Parking lots despite requests by Churches and Dioceses not to.

Today in Columbus Ohio, we visited six parishes this morning. The McCain campaign had volunteers at all six parishes putting flyer's on cars, despite requests by the parishes and the dioceses not to. Below are some of the pictures - more to come soon with a full report on each parish.

Will Obama Win the White Catholic Vote?

From the Pew Research Center...

Pew Forum's tracking1 of surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain had a 13-point lead among white Catholic registered voters in late September. But the group's support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama grew in October, giving Obama an 8-point lead in late October. What might explain this shift?

September 15th will go down in history as the day the tide turned against John McCain with Catholics. That was the day he stated that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong".... and we all now know the rest of the story. Catholics are no longer being fooled by the vitriolic forces of the right who want Catholics to believe that their vote must be cast over a single issue.

Catholics are connecting the dots and know that a strong economy is a life issue and that a weak economy will only lead to more misery for working Americans. The economy drives the abortion rate and Catholics know that with a McCain administration and a continuation of the Bush economy, the abortion rate will continue to climb as more and more Americans face desperate times and desperate choices.

With an Obama administration, Catholics realize that Americans will have a new direction with the economy and women will be empowered to make better choices regarding the birth of their child, with improved access to health care, housing and education.

For a Catholic - the choice at the ballot box could not be clearer this election day...

More from the Pew Research....

Republicans in Ohio Suppressing Early Voters

As reported in an article by Barb Carmen in the Columbus Dispatch this morning, Michael E. Colley and Douglas J. Preisse (pictured left), Republican members of the Franklin County Ohio election board are attempting to suppress the rights of citizens to early vote. Most of these citizens appear to be from the minority community.

Because of the popularity of early voting and the overwhelming turnout, William A. Anthony Jr. and Kimberly E. Marinello, the board's Democratic members, want to simply extend the early voting centers hours this Sunday. Seems simple enough.

However with no real valid rational or reasonable explanation, Colley and Preisse are declining to go along with the plan. Instead they skipped a vote on the matter (that's real brave) and then they issued a statement stating that poll workers might be exhausted. Apparently as board members they did not realize that the polling place is only open for 4 hours on Sunday and that the workers are seasonal and looking for extra work. It is doubtful they will be that exhausted after four hours of work and a few hours more work would be welcome for a seasonal worker.

The lines have been long in Franklin county for early voting, stretching for two and half to three hours recently. It has been a very diverse crowd and from observations very heavy in the minority communities.

Thus it is no wonder that Colley and Preisse, would want to supress the voter turnout in Franklin county. It is obvious what they fear and this time their tactics and motives are being well documented and followed.

When the dust has settled on this election, the Republican party would be well served to rid itself of such ilk from its ranks. The Republican party just like the rest of American is dire need of new leadership.

Read the Dispatch article here....