Rick Santorum and the Catholic Vote in 2012

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, one of the dark horses in the field of candidates battling for the Republican presidential nomination, has made no secret of the importance of his Catholic faith in shaping his political positions. Santorum has taken aim at JFKs celebrated speech to Protestant ministers back in 1960 where the future president vowed to leave his faith out of the Oval Office.

On Monday, on the campaign trail in Iowa, Santorum said the GOP has never nominated a Catholic, which could help in a number of key states including Florida (thanks for noticing us, weve only been here since 1565!).

While the Republicans did nominate a Catholic for the vice presidency (New York Congressman Bill Miller back in 1964 when Barry Goldwater was the nominee), Santorum is correct in noting that no GOP presidential nominee was a Catholic though there have been a few Catholics who sought the Republican nomination over the years, like Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes.

Santorum hints that having a Catholic as the nominee may help the Republicans -- and hes obviously not trying to push the presidential ambitions of U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan who is an even bigger underdog than the former senator from the Keystone State.

With at least 25 percent of Americans being Catholic, Santorum is correct that the Republicans need to focus on that population. In 2008, Obama took 54 percent of Catholics while John McCain lagged behind with 45 percent. But Santorum might be off the mark when he suggests that adding a Catholic to the ticket will help the Republicans. While a majority of Catholics may have voted for Obama, they probably did not do so because Joe Biden, a Catholic, was on the ticket. Back in 2004, Catholics broke for George W. Bush over John Kerry, a Catholic, 51 percent to 48 percent.

In other words, Catholic voters mirror the general electorate. So if a Catholic is put on the Republican presidential ticket come 2012, it should be for other reasons -- for example, Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush, both of whom are Catholics, could deliver the Sunshine State for the Republicans.