From the PostPew (HT Balloon Juice):

President Obamas support among Catholic voters has surged since June, according to a new poll, despite a summer that included the Catholic bishops religious freedom campaign and the naming of Rep. Paul Ryan, a Catholic, as the GOPs vice-presidential candidate. On June 17, Obama held a slight edge over Mitt Romney among Catholics (49-47 percent), according to the Pew Research Center. Since then, Obama has surged ahead, and now leads 54-39 percent, according to a Pew poll conducted on Sept. 16. Among all registered voters, Obama leads Romney 51-42 percent, according to Pew.

Cue the discussion about who counts as a real Catholic.UPDATE: Sullivan (who got there first) weighs in:

A small word of thanks to Cardinal Dolan, Robert George and K-Lo for helping shift the Catholic vote massively toward Obama with their summer campaign for religious liberty. And special thanks to Paul Ryan. No actual Catholic could ever find anything but puerile cruelty in the works of Ayn Rand, or rally to the idea that home-care for the elderly should be sacrificed to reduce tax rates for the super-rich. Paul Ryan believes that the basic principles of Rand can be compatible with Catholicism. American Catholics are just not that dumb or confused about their faith.

Eduardo M. Peñalver is the Allan R. Tessler Dean of the Cornell Law School. The views expressed in the piece are his own, and should not be attributed to Cornell University or Cornell Law School.

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