One aspect of today's speech by Obama at my alma mater that the opponents of that speech clearly seem to not realize is that 3 decades of support for the GOP by far too many in the Church hasn't attained the desired result. The main purpose of much of this support has been to obtain reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision through SCOTUS appointments by GOP presidents. That primary goal, however, was never attained, and its odds of attainment are lower than ever now.
Ironically enough, Roe itself was written by a Nixon appointee (Blackmun), and other GOP appointees (Stewart, Brennan, and Burger) joined in the decision. Even more ironically, the failure to overturn that holding resulted largely from decisions made by 3 GOP-appointed justices. This marriage of convenience between the GOP and certain elements of the Church, IOW, has proven to be far more convenient for the GOP than for those Church officials and members.
Since Reagan took office in 1981, the following new justices have been appointed by the following presidents:
Reagan--O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy
GHWB--Souter, Thomas
WJC--Breyer, Ginsburg
GWB--Alito, Roberts
3 of the 5 justices (O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter) appointed by Reagan and GHWB were the swing votes in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision in which Roe came the closest to being overturned. Kennedy, in fact, initially supported overturning until O'Connor privately convinced him to change his mind.
At this point, the odds of Roe getting overturned are extremely slim. There is a solid bloc of 4 (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito) who would overturn it in a heartbeat. Assuming Obama is re-elected, the odds of them ever getting a 5th vote are, however, almost non-existent. Had Bork been confirmed in 1987, the 5th vote would've been there in Casey, but the Senate decided otherwise.
Thanks to 28 years of GOP dominance, we had pre-emptive war, slashed social spending, tax cuts for the wealthy, torture, and a lot of other things that Church doctrine expressly opposes. We also have kept Roe as good law thanks largely to 3 Reagan/Bush I justices. It's been a lose/lose proposition for the Church.
Those facts appear to have been lost on the dozens of bishops who have publicly blasted Fr. Jenkins' decision to follow university tradition in having new presidents speak at graduation. They're obviously lost on the protesters as well. Perhaps they should start re-thinking their strategy.
In closing, I reiterate my views on the golden opportunity that these protestors have afforded Obama today. I hope and I pray that he takes advantage of that opportunity.