072401DUBYA DEALT DODGY DILEMMA 

                  By VINCENT MORRIS 

                  July 24, 2001 -- WASHINGTON - Winning over Catholic voters is 
                  one of President Bush's most important tasks as he eyes a 
                  decision on stem-cell research - and tends to his own 2004 
                  re-election contest. 
                  Both Pennsylvania and Michigan have large numbers of Catholics 
                  and went for Democrat Al Gore in the presidential election. 
                  It's part of Bush's game plan to carry those swing states next 
                  time around, and his advisers believe he needs to appear 
                  sympathetic to Catholics - or at least be careful not to 
                  alienate them. 
                  That's one of the reasons why his upcoming action on whether 
                  to permit federal funding of stem-cell research is proving so 
                  difficult. 
                  Through it all, the extensive publicity and semi-public 
                  anguish that aides say Bush is enduring seems only to have 
                  focused attention on his decision - blowing the issue out of 
                  proportion and spotlighting Bush's every move. 
                  Yesterday, the pope weighed in, urging the president to reject 
                  research and drawing more attention to the issue. 
                  "I will go back home . . . listen to points of view, and make 
                  up my mind when I'm ready to," said Bush yesterday. 
                  The smart money seems to be that Bush - who opposed such 
                  research during last year's campaign - will approve some type 
                  of federally funded research, joining countries like Israel, 
                  Britain and Australia. 
                  "I think Bush is moving toward allowing research to go 
                  forward," said Tom Mann, a political scientist at Brookings 
                  Foundation. 
                  "The politics overwhelmingly point toward allowing it." 
                  Why? 
                  Look at the numbers: 
                  * A June ABC poll showed 60 percent of adults endorse federal 
                  stem-cell funding - and 54 percent of Catholics support the 
                  research. Another survey, by NBC, indicated support might be 
                  as high as 69 percent. 
                  * A majority in both the House and Senate support the 
                  research, although the conservative Reps. Dick Armey, Tom 
                  DeLay and J.C. Watts oppose it. So does Senate Minority Leader 
                  Trent Lott. "You get into legal questions, but there are also 
                  ethical and moral questions here," Lott told Fox News. 

                  NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. 
                  NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM are 
                  trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc. Copyright 2001 NYP Holdings, 
                  Inc. All rights reserved.