John McCain has a big problem The economy is bad and when the economy is bad it tends to push all other issues off the stage And whenever McCain has to so much as discuss the economy he looks like someone just put pins in his eyes His answers are vague or forced and he seems to lack a basic ca

Catholic voters certainly came to look at the Democratic Party differently in the wake of Roe but the breaking apart of the New Deal Coalition had begun earlier The turmoil of the late 1960s the counter-culture the anti-Vietnam War protests the emergence of radical feminism Stonewall etc

John McCain is sitting pretty right now While the Hillary and Barack slug it out McCain can begin to frame the November election and to position himself as the candidate best able to attract crucial swing voters And no voters have more swing in them than ethnic Catholics concentrated as they are

The last two weeks of the Democratic nominating contest have been dominated by two controversies neither of which have risen to the level of a scandal but both of which exhibited the potential to tarnish their victims indelibly Rev Jeremiah Wright s anti-American rants http www youtube com w

Last Monday the Democratic National Committee approved Puerto Rico s plan to change from a June 7 caucus to a June 1 primary After North Carolina and Indiana vote on May 6 Puerto Rico s 55 delegates will be the largest prize left News accounts and early analysis claim that Hillary Clinton

At first blush Pope Benedict s visit to the U S the week before the Pennsylvania primary should be bad news for Sen Clinton He will denounce abortion and she is backed by the most vocal pro-abortion groups in America He will denounce the Iraq War and coverage will recall that his predecessor

In 1992 Bill Clinton demonstrated a self-critical stance towards an important constituency or a craven but brilliant capacity for political calculus when he denounced a hate-filled remark by the black singer Sister Souljah while addressing Jesse Jackson s Rainbow Coalition Clinton s aim was

Next month s Pennsylvania primary has taken on a disproportionate importance In fact as recently demonstrated by Jim Vandehei and Mike AllenClinton has almost no shot at winning the Democratic nomination Obama has already won a majority of the states and has an insurmountable lead in pledged de

It would be difficult to conjure up a more offensive tirade to ethnic Catholic ears than the one Barack Obama s pastor delivered after 9 11 about chickens coming home to roost Catholics do not have a monopoly on patriotism by any means but patriotism has a monopoly on the American Catholic mind

The New Deal Coalition drew the adherence of Catholics because it overlapped so obviously with the dominant themes in Catholic teachings about social justice Msgr John A Ryan who headed the Social Action Department of the Bishops Conference was so devoted to FDR and his programs that he earne