Catholicism has been way more influential on the US right ever since the nineties. Catholic orgs were instrumental in getting GWB into power and have led the charge in capturing the supreme court, rolling back reproductive rights etc. A majority of SCJs are in fact Catholic, and many leading political figures, including the VP. Catholic dogma informs the social policy around which this block agitates. However, none of this is to say that there is something uniquely problematic about belief in transubstantiation or whatever; my point is that trying to pin political problems on theology is an absolute dead end.