Washington, 20 Nov. (AKI) – United States president-elect Barack Obama is eyeing the western state of Arizona’s governor and rising Democratic star, Janet Napolitano, as his Secretary of Homeland Security, according to Democratic Party sources quoted on Thursday by the Washington Post newspaper. Napolitano, 50 was an early supporter of Obama and won accolades from fellow governors for her handling of immigration issues, the paper said.

Full story here.

Fox News reports: “A Roman Catholic diocese in South Carolina officially repudiated a priest Friday after he told his parishioners that people who voted for Barack Obama had supported the “intrinsic evil” of abortion and should not seek Communion.” The whole story is here. 

John Allen, the well-regarded Vatican expert for the National Catholic Reporter, writes an open-letter to President-elect Obama, urging him to make U.S.-Vatican relations a priority, and urging him to avoid the perceived diplomatic mistakes of the Clinton Administration.  The letter is here. An excerpt:

I’m aware that the stars may not seem especially well-aligned for such collaboration. A small number of Catholic bishops in the United States made statements during the campaign that favored your opponent, which may have left a bitter aftertaste among some of your supporters and advisors. It’s also clear to everyone that, barring a dramatic change of heart on your part, the White House and the Vatican will have deep differences during your term over “life issues” such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

“I would urge you, however, not to allow those points to obscure four basic political realities.”

“There is nothing false about hope.”

GAZA (New York Times, Nov. 5, 2008) — From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens. [The rest of the story is here.}

Don’t forget to vote (if you haven’t already) The whole world is watching.
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An Italian perspective.

And for a Catholic perspective, look here, too.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. poses that question in this commentary.

Excerpt: “It has become commonplace in American politics: Certain Roman Catholic bishops declare that the faithful should cast their ballots on the basis of a limited number of “nonnegotiable issues,” notably opposition to abortion. Conservative Catholics cheer, more liberal Catholics howl. And that is usually the end of the story.

” Not this year. Catholics, who are quintessential swing voters and gave narrow but crucial support to Presidenti Bush in 2004, are drifting toward Barack Obama. And this time, some church leaders are suggesting that single-issue voting is by no means a Catholic commandment.”

The Times reports today: “In a departure from previous elections, Democrats and liberal Catholic groups are waging a fight within the church, arguing that the Democratic Party better reflects the full spectrum of church teachings.” Read the whole story here. 

Sarah Palin has made her conservative faith and ideological beliefs a prominant campaign issue. She was selected in part because of those beliefs, which appeal so strongly to the Republican base which neither likes nor trusts John McCain, who has long been a moderate on most issues until a few months ago. As more information comes out regarding the real Sarah Palin, it’s important for eveyone to consider her candidacy very carefully.

On the New York Times web site now: “Ms. Palin walks the national stage as a small-town foe of “good old boy” politics and a champion of ethics reform. The charismatic 44-year-old governor draws enthusiastic audiences and high approval ratings. And as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, she points to her management experience while deriding her Democratic rivals, Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden as speechmakers who never have run anything.

“But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.

“Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.”

The entire story is here.

UPDATE: And this from the Washington Post today: “Palin says her time as mayor taught her how to be a leader and grounded her in the real needs of voters, and her tenure revealed some of the qualities she would later display as governor: a striving ambition, a willingness to cut loose those perceived as disloyal and a populist brand of social and pro-growth conservatism.

“But a visit to this former mining supply post 40 miles north of Anchorage shows the extent to which Palin’s mayoralty was also defined by what it did not include. The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by the standards of small towns, which limited Palin’s exposure to issues such as health care, social services, the environment and education.”

“The majority of Catholic voters has lined up with the winner of the popular vote in the last nine presidential elections. Don’t think this fact is lost on the 2008 presidential nominees of both major parties. As the election season moves into its critical final phase, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama continue their battle for the crucial Catholic swing vote in the pages of the October issue of U.S. Catholic magazine.”

Full story here.

Blogger Tim Hogan of Missouri lays out a long and thoughtful post under the compelling headline: Why practicing Catholics should vote for Barack Obama, and not John McCain. The post is here.