America has spoken.
The message was clear: our political system is corrupt and broken.
And they voted for change.
Voters shocked the world last night by soundly rejecting Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine — and electing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. According to exit polls, Trump/Pence won the overall Catholic vote 52-45. They won white Catholics 60-37, but lost Latino Catholics 67-26 — though among non-Spanish speaking Latino Catholics the margin was likely significantly closer.
Some thoughts on last night:
- While two races remain undecided, Republicans retain control of the United States Senate – with the likelihood of holding a 53-47 majority. This is a huge win for life — and the votes we need to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood.
- Justice Scalia must be smiling from Heaven. The opportunity to replace his vacancy on the Supreme Court, and possibly others, with judges who respect the Constitution is real. Furthermore, a large number of lower court judicial appointments will be made by Trump/Pence. This is huge.
- James Carville said it best last night: “Obamacare is done.” And so is the HHS Mandate. Praise God!
- Biggest losers of the night (apart from Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine): ISIS, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Emily’s List, Hollywood, Jennifer Palmieri, John Podesta, secular elites…
- Ignore the elite media narrative. The Republican Party has become the party of the working class. Notably, the same Rust Belt voters that backed Trump last night voted for Obama in ‘08 and ‘12. Were these voters racist when they voted for Obama? Nonsense. American workers, especially the white working class, have abandoned the Democratic Party. The GOP must now deliver on their promises. Republicans must create the conditions for an economic rebirth along with a vision for cultural renewal that heals.
Now, some “inside baseball” that I think you will appreciate…
Earlier this year we had to make some decisions on where to focus our resources. We decided to hire a full time “community organizer” to build a network of Catholics on the ground in one state. We purchased massive amounts of Catholic data and organized churches across this state. One volunteer team alone focused on Vietnamese Catholics and hand-delivered over 25,000 flyers to parishes in one county.
And then… three weeks ago we issued a challenge. And by the grace of God, were able to raise over $500,000. We saturated Catholic voters across hundreds of websites and social media with digital ads to supplement our massive ground campaign.
Nearly 95% of our budget was spent in one state: Pennsylvania.
The state that decided it all.
Finally, I owe you some humility.
This last year has been difficult in many ways. Trump is not perfect, and we have said so. Yet, like so many others, we underestimated him. We had serious doubts about his viability as a candidate as recently as a month ago. And yet we rallied together to win the Senate, and to stop Hillary — and together we succeeded. The time for gloating or hand wringing is now over. Catholics must now unite and embrace this historic opportunity to reclaim our country and the cause of life, family, and freedom.
Like many of you, I prayed like crazy these last few weeks. And especially yesterday. I heard from many of you that you were praying throughout the day. Praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Praying Novenas. Praying the Rosary and pleading with Our Lady to intercede.
A friend approached me after Mass last Sunday. He could see I was anxious. His words astonish me as I remember them today. He said: “Don’t worry about Tuesday. Our Lady of Guadalupe will come through.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe — the Patroness of the Unborn.
The Patroness of America.
Pray for us.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.