'Lincoln and Douglas,' reviewed

Barack Obama is the only American politician who can fill a stadium as he did last night in Denver By moving the venue from the smaller indoor arena to the massive outdoor one he did three things First he invited and received comparisons with John F Kennedy who accepted the Democratic nod i

Here s Michael Sean Winters America s regular blogger and author of Left at the Altar nbsp on slate com on the Dems and pro-life issues Catholics for whom abortion is the only issue are never going to vote for pro-choice Democrats Many others however are less certain about both abortion

You might not know it from this morning rsquo s press clippings but there were two unity speeches last night Sen Hillary Clinton rsquo s valedictory is front page and above the fold on every newspaper in America Buried at the end of the lead stories after noting the forgettable keynote address

Not to be outdone by the Democratic Conventioneers who have asked Sister Catherine Pinkerton to lead them in nbsp prayer nbsp the Republican National Committee announced this today Father Edward A Reese S J president of Brophy Prep in Phoenix will give the opening invocation at the Republica

The cause of human rights suffered a severe blow the past fortnight and no one will mention that fact in Denver at the Democratic Convention this week or at the Republican Convention in St Paul next week The issue did not come up in discussions of Sen Joe Biden rsquo s storied foreign policy cre

Picking a Catholic to be your running mate can be a dicey proposition these days Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is in a public fight with her bishop who has banned her from receiving communion because she vetoed a bill restricting abortion providers Conversely Virginia Governor Tim Kaine rsquo

Like many too-plugged in Americans my cell phone has not left my side for three days as I wait for the text message announcing Barack Obama rsquo s running mate I have kept it by my bedside in case the announcement comes before my alarm goes off I take it on my morning constitutional as I walk a

The airwaves were positively dripping with the news that Sen John McCain could not remember the number of houses and his wife Cindy own The correct answer is seven Mrs McCain is the heiress of a beer distribution company and is known to be fabulously wealthy Her 2006 tax returns showed that s

A furor broke out in a country diocese some years ago about the retreat style of priest who was taking Catholic students in their last year of high school or who were attending University away for weekend retreats On the Friday night of the retreat this priest would tell the young people that by th