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TechnoratiBrian Hart, a Brownback spokesman, said the senator was "talking about identifying active parishioners who can both develop a list of other like-minded people in the parish as well as capitalize at the local level on the existing Catholics for McCain contact list."
A McCain campaign spokesman declined to say whether parish directories were in the campaign's plans.
Last week in Denver, the Obama campaign argued that his policies on the economy, environment and poverty fit the Catholic pursuit of the common good. They said his policies would reduce the number of abortions more than the Republicans would.
Obama's campaign has targeted Catholics likely to agree: young Catholics, social justice Catholics and women's religious communities. But it also has the endorsement of Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional scholar and former Reagan administration official who just published a pro-Obama book called "Can a Catholic Support Him?"
One unknown in the race: the voice of U.S. Catholic bishops. Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput has said Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, a Catholic supporter of abortion rights, should refrain from receiving Communion.
And several U.S. bishops have rebuked Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for misstating Catholic teaching on when life begins.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson, appearing at the same forum as Brownback this week, said more bishops need to speak out about core Catholic issues.
"And we need to help them," Nicholson said. "We need to give them cover, give them solidarity, because it can get very lonely for them."
But it's still rare for bishops to directly criticize politicians. Instead, Catholic dioceses nationwide have begun to distribute "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," an issue-based road map for Catholic voters.
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