WisSJ: Catholics scour polling data before hitting Capitol

How do you sway a legislator to your side when the political environment is so polarized?

That was a question hanging heavily over the recent “Catholics at the Capitol” event in Madison. The gathering, held every other year, brings Catholics from across the state to town for a day of political advocacy.

Participants spend part of the day as “citizen lobbyists.” They meet with legislators in hopes of persuading them to support the positions of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s nearly 1.6 million Catholics and is led by the state’s bishops.

Before heading to the Capitol, this year’s 190 participants could attend a variety of workshops at Monona Terrace, including one led by Charles Franklin, the state’s preeminent pollster and director of the Marquette University Law School Poll. Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino was among those sitting in on Franklin’s talk.

It was titled “Are Wisconsin’s Voters Really Polarized?” The short answer: not all the time.

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