Ed Koch not popular with many Irish during his career -- Late NY Mayor defended British role in North after Irish trip in 1988

Ed Koch celebrating St. Patrick's Day

I never had much time for Ed Koch, the mayor of New York from 1978 to 1989. The mayor died today.

He was a blusterer who early on in his career stopped listening and began pronouncing and never stopped.

I remember interviewing him and seeing that familiar politician’s fault where questions were answered with the same familiar soundbite, year after year.

Read More: Ed Koch, sage of the city, calls New Yorkers to kick the bums out

He was New York. Larger than life, for better and for worse, and often I felt the latter more than the former.
He was in power too long, somewhat like the current mayor Michael Bloomberg, and had become a poor imitation of himself by the time he stepped down.

On Irish issues he was captive to whomever he last spoke to.

Sure, he wore his big Irish sweater every St. Patrick’s Day and loved being photographed at the parade but at the height of the Northern Ireland "Troubles" he contributed very little to the American role.

Read More: Ed Koch endorses Christine Quinn for New York Mayor 

Indeed, his most famous faux pas as far as Irish Americans were concerned occurred in 1988 after he went on a five-day visit over there with his frequent bosom buddy John Cardinal O’Connor.

Here is how his trip was reported on AP:

“Mayor Edward Koch says Irish-Americans who ''beat up the British'' for their role in Northern Ireland are taking the easy way out" ran the headline.

The story ran “The mayor, back at City Hall on Tuesday, defended remarks he made in Dublin earlier in the day at the end of his five-day pilgrimage for peace in Ireland with Cardinal John O'Connor.”

In Dublin, Koch had praised the ''good attitude'' of the British, saying ''I do not believe that they deserve the castigation that any of us, myself included, have heaped upon them. I do not believe that the British are occupying forces.''

Read More: Saved by Jackie Onassis Kennedy Grand Central celebrates 100 years

Well that went down well in The Bronx and Flatbush and Koch never quite regained his equilibrium with the Irish as a result.

Hardly surprising.

Driver's licenses for undocumented and new immigration reform bill shows sea of change in US views

Senator Marco Rubio

The recent decision by Illinois to grant driver's licenses to the undocumented is an indication of how dramatically the immigration issue is changing in the U.S.

Now there is a bill before the Massachusetts legislature on granting licenses, with hopes that New York will follow suit.

Just a few years back such bills would have been heavily defeated; indeed, attempts to process legislation in seven states failed.

The driver’s license issue is just the tip of the iceberg, though. There has been a massive change almost overnight on the issue of immigration to United States.

It is the best example yet that elections have consequences. President Obama’s victory certainly has shown that.

Whatever else about politicians, they can always read the results of elections. Put simply, the GOP can never win another presidential election unless they win a larger share of the Hispanic and minority turnout.

The old days of a white majority are gone forever, and Republicans have suddenly woken up in a different universe as the party of old men.

This is no country for old men only. Arguably the greatest catalyst for change in America in the past century was the 1965 Immigration Act which ensured that Hispanics would quickly grow to become the largest ethnic group in the U.S.

Hispanics now get to decide elections in key swing states such as Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado. Soon they will begin to impact heavily in Texas and Arizona too.

Republicans are looking at their ultimate nightmare, an electoral lock across the U.S. by Democrats who are already guaranteed about 240 electoral votes before they start if the current support they enjoy lasts.

California is a lesson in Republican overreaching if ever there was one. The state was always competitive until a Republican governor, Pete Wilson, decided it was time to crack down on undocumented and took aim at the Hispanic community with Proposition 187 in the 1990s which sought to exclude the undocumented from state services such as schooling and health care. The party has not won a presidential election there since and only one gubernatorial race since 1994.

The California-zation of many other states will proceed quickly unless the GOP does something quickly.

This is why we are witnessing a sea change among Republicans who have realized late in the day that insulting, deporting and generally slamming Hispanics is not the way to win elections.

There have been voices of moderation such as Jeb Bush and indeed his brother, former President George W. Bush, but they were crying in the wilderness as the anti-immigrant lobby held sway.

Now all has changed. Senator John McCain, for long a principled advocate of reform, has found his voice again on this issue, and more importantly he has been joined by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the two rising stars in the GOP who see their future prospects dim unless this issue is dealt with.

In the overall scheme the Irish are bit players, but a bill that passes and legalizes our estimated 50,000 undocumented and helps more future flow come to America would have a profound impact on the community.

Amazingly that now seems in sight after a dark period where anti-immigrant legislation was the norm. This time it looks for real.

Joe Biden must worry about Hillary and Barack love fest on '60 Minutes' -- Loyalty not a dominant theme for President Obama it seems

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on "60 Minutes"

Just days after rescuing Obama on issues such as the fiscal cliff and gun control, Joe Biden must be worrying what it takes to get some loyalty around the White House.

There was Barack on Sunday night on ‘60 minutes’ schmoozing with Hillary Clinton like two best friends forever and not a mention of Joe, good, bad or indifferent.

Barack does not do loyalty as one leading journalist recently remarked to this column. He must know that Irish Joe is gearing up for a run in 2016 and that Hillary is likely his biggest rival.

So there he was on the nation’s most popular news program offering a hosannah of praises to his former bitter rival.

Barack may have knocked back the idea in the ‘60 Minutes’ interview that such political considerations were important, but do you believe him or his lying eyes?

Everything is about the future election in Washington and Biden might have expected a little more loyalty after his herculean efforts to salvage the fiscal cliff talks and take the heat on gun control -- a joint appearance on ‘60 Minutes perhaps?

Read more news on US politics here

No doubt Joe’s hair plugs were on fire as Hill and Barack cozied up instead like an old married couple who had lots of tiffs and made it through despite that.

Despite all the good cheer there is no love lost now or ever between the Clintons and the Obamas. The scars of the bitter 2008 primary campaign will never heal.

Their political marriage worked out very well for both. Obama got a magnificent and workaholic Secretary of State and Clinton got the high profile and relevance that would have been denied her after her stunning primary defeat.

Obama’s tacit endorsement in 2016 will be critical to who wins the Democratic nomination and he seems comfortable for now embracing both his Vice President and his soon-to-be former Secretary of State.

But there will come a day either publicly or privately where the Obama endorsement will make a major difference in the 2016 battle.

It may not go to Biden or Hillary, it could go to Andrew Cuomo or Martin O’Malley, but I’m sure Biden felt he is entitled to it as the ultimate loyal foot soldier for a president who desperately needs his genuine warmth and political gifts such as working with the opposition.

But the Hillary joint interview showed if you need friends in D.C., get a dog, especially when it comes to Barack Obama.

Read more: Denis McDonough new Obama Chief of Staff deeply proud of his Irish heritage

VP Joe Biden suddenly looks like the smartest politician in America -- Irish American VP goes where no other politicians dare in Washington D.C.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives to a House 

Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol on Jan. 1, 2013.

(Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Joe Biden is suddenly the most popular politician in Washington and a real contender for 2016. The latest opinion poll by Public Policy shows him running a strong second to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination.

The Irish American Vice President, widely dismissed by the haughty press corps looking for the new and the beautiful, is at the very heart of the dramatic new initiatives by the Obama administration.

In a time of electoral gridlock, Biden appears to be the one figure who can reach out to the other side and force a civil discourse.

On the fiscal cliff he galloped to the rescue and cut the deal with Senator Mitch McConnell before riding off like the Lone Ranger. Opinion polls showed the public believed by a 57 per cent to 20 per cent margin that Biden’s deal was better for Democrats than Republicans.

Read more: The NRA will not allow Joe Biden to blame law-abiding gun owners for actions of madmen

Now on gun control he is defying the conventional wisdom again and getting real traction behind his recommendations which he will deliver to the president next week.

He has met with the NRA, Walmart, and every major gun constituency, forcing a dialogue where none existed before and making clear that action will be taken to prevent another Sandy Hook.

Don’t rule out the possibility of a deal that Biden can craft that the NRA can get along with, strange as that may seem.

Biden notes there appears to be a near universal belief that more background checks are needed for all gun sales.

He is determined that action will occur.

"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members, as well as legislative action, we believe, is required," he said.

Sure the NRA said it was “disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.’’

But everything is different after Sandy Hook and Biden knows it even if the NRA does not.

He is suddenly being noticed. “These weeks can continue to set him up as one of the few who can deliver in an era when no one thinks accomplishments can happen and everyone believes Washington is broken — an appealing position to be in as he considers his future,” a Biden loyalist told the Washington Post.

Maureen Dowd in The New York Times stated, “Mr. Biden can spread everything out on the table and negotiate his way through all of his former colleagues' shortcomings, weaknesses, fears and frailties.”
In  a time when American politics is so polarized Biden has managed the extraordinary trick of being able to appear reasonable to both sides.”

Chris Cilliza, who writes the influential The Fix column for the Washington Post, wrote, “What’s apparent and indisputable over these past few weeks is that Biden has put himself at the center of the national political conversation in ways that have helped his boss but also himself.”

In this new political arena maybe a pol with old fashioned skills is what’s really needed. Joe Biden is certainly starting off 2013 on fire.

Next up, immigration reform for the miracle worker?

Read more: Gun nuts lose argument over assault weapons ban, threaten civil war - VIDEO

Hillary Clinton’s illness will raise questions about 2016 run -- Age and health her two most vulnerable areas to attack

Hillary Clinton's age and health for the Presidential Race 2016 comes into question
(Photo:GlobalGrind)

Hillary Clinton’s illness will raise questions about the most vulnerable aspect of any 2016 presidential run for her – her age and health.

She will be 69 when, and if, she runs, and the health and age issue was bound to surface at some level as she went closer to deciding to run.

Considering that only Ronald Reagan has run at a similar age and he was suspected of suffering from early Alzheimer’s during his second term, it could become a major issue.

This latest illness, especially involving a potential blood clot, will raise such questions to a higher level. The White House is no place to be for a less than healthy occupant.

Clinton has looked exhausted in recent months, and it has been attributed to an incredibly taxing travel schedule but a campaign is also an exhausting marathon as Clinton herself can attest to after her 2008 experience.

Read more: Hillary Clinton taken to hospital with suspected blood clot

During her most recent trip Clinton spent two days in Ireland and it was obvious that not only she, but also her staff were at the limits of their endurance.

The Benghazi affair also added to the pressure and it was clear during her Dublin and Belfast leg that a new term for Obama and her replacement as Secretary of State was something she was greatly looking forward to.

She talked about reading books, relaxing, helping with the Clinton Foundation, but mostly just taking a long rest from the backbreaking schedule.

At a dinner at the Residence Restaurant in Dublin surrounded by close Irish friends, Clinton finally looked relaxed and sipped a beer as she went around the table, asking how everyone had been faring.

It was a brief glimpse of the old Hillary, the very warm private person who holds friendships dear.

But clearly something was amiss on that trip and soon after she came back she fainted and received a concussion and now comes news of the blood clot.

It is far too early to say if there will be any long-term impact on her health but with 2016 speculation already bubbling it will bound to be a matter of intense conversation over the coming days.

Like Big Tobacco, the Big Guns of the NRA are about to fade - Only a matter of time before sensible gun laws are enacted

People once believed that Big Tobacco would never be defeated, that it had legislators in its pocket, and that it carried such power and influence those laws curtailing tobacco products would never work.

That proved not to be so once the clear link between smoking and cancer was established, and there is no doubt that the tobacco lobby has been greatly diminished as a result.

The gun lobby right now looks a lot like the tobacco lobby, all-powerful, all influencing but the link that has been established between the safety of our children and the product they peddle has finally been irredeemably established. (Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland has just written an excellent comparison of the two.)

The children of Newtown, Connecticut have made that connection real and vital for this generation of Americans in an utterly indelible way. After Newtown there can be no going back on gun control.

The NRA mantra that guns had nothing to do with the violence in America is clearly false based on all known evidence.

In countries where guns are not available the number of deaths from homicides is dramatically lower.

Here are the 2010 figures, adjusted for population differential.

Number of Murders by Firearms, US, 2010: 8,775
Number of Murders by firearms, Britain, 2010*: 58
(equivalent to 290 US murders)

You can go around any country in the world with strict gun control laws and the same reality hits home. The more guns are available the more people die.

Such reality has finally permeated the American consciousness after Newtown, which is why the NRA, still shuttered in their own little archipelago, is unable to see what the real world is experiencing.

Like Big Tobacco though their power will surely ebb now that the link between cause and effect has clearly been established.

This country has a magnificent constitution, one of the great documents in world history, starting with the immortal phrase “We the People,"

But we cannot be bound only by the thoughts and opinions of men from the 18th century who know nothing of what the deadly meaning of the term the “right to bear arms” nowadays means.

We need to have a living constitution as it is experienced by each generation with changing needs and priorities. After Newtown that has never been more obvious—and the people now see it.

Why I think Hillary Clinton will run in 2016 -- Best qualified person in US to be President

Hillary Clinton meets Irish Foreign Minister Eamonn Gilmore in Dublin

DUBLIN -- Yes, Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2016. That is the only conclusion I can come to after spending two days in Northern Ireland with the former first lady, U.S. senator, and soon to be former Secretary of State.

She is the best-qualified person in America to be president given that resume. You would have to go back to the time of Jefferson to find anyone with such qualifications.

And there is still fire in her belly and steel in the heart.

Though she will be 69 when the next election comes around, Hillary looks as fit and as ready for the fight as I have ever seen her.

Sure she is tired -- after one million miles and 115 countries who would not be? -- and yes, that hairstyle in recent months, or lack of one, has drawn lots of comments.

But all that is temporary, the closing act on one part of her career.

Don’t doubt the ambition or the desire. There has never been such a fiercely competitive couple as Bill and Hillary Clinton and they still have unfinished business.

An illustration in The Sunday Business Post in Dublin said it best, with Hillary as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz closing in on the White House seen at the end of the Yellow Brick Road, and Bill beside her as the Tin Man helping lead the way.

Last night in a small private dinner setting in a restaurant in Stephen’s Green in Dublin, surrounded by a dozen or so Irish Americans who have been with her on many campaigns, she made clear that the fire still burns.

She went around the table asking each of us for our memories from our Clinton campaign involvements.

I told her I remembered best that day in 1995 when she and her husband, as the president and first lady, came to Belfast for the Christmas tree lighting and to support the peace process, and the world in Northern Ireland was never the same afterwards.

When she spoke she remembered the Gerry Adams U.S. visa as the first major battle on Irish policy and how that was won. She remembered the many wonderful women who had inspired her in Northern Ireland, and how she has used the message of Northern Ireland to different groups learning to live together many times since in her job as secretary of state.

At the American Ireland Fund event in Belfast last Friday she made an astonishing offer to the group, essentially saying, put me to work on your behalf and on behalf of Ireland. It was a massive gesture and one that showed the depth of her commitment to Ireland.

One can only imagine how many offers she will get in the coming months to become involved in various causes. For her to choose and highlight the Irish one unbidden was a remarkable moment.

This Irish trip was not some one-day trip to Moneygall and a pleasant interlude as President Obama had in 2011, but another sign of the deep conviction and desire to help on Hillary’s part going all the way back to that first presidential trip to Ireland.

And yes, there were politics included. At one point she referred to her “current job.” We can surely guess what she wants her next job to be.

Four years is a lifetime in politics and much can happen in between.

But leaving Dublin I was in no doubt what Hillary wants to do come 2014 or so – and that is to announce she is running for president of the United States.

Hillary's Choice -- a run for glory or a quiet retirement after Secretary of State? Irish trip provided vital clues as to her intentions for 2016

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton was feted and bid farewell to at a small private dinner at the Residence club in Stephen’s Green on Thursday night as twenty friends from both sides of the Atlantic gathered to mark her last trip to Ireland as Secretary of State.

During the meal of sea bass and boiled potatoes there was only one topic that dominated all else at the four small tables.

Will she or won’t she?

The White House will have a "for rent" sign in 2016 when Barack Obama leaves. Could she follow the first African American with the first woman and upend American politics for ever?

The answer insiders believe is a likely yes but there remains a significant element of doubt.

While the prospect is tempting the pitfalls are many and Hillary Clinton is keenly aware of them after her crash and burn in 2008

The Clintons have been part of every American national election since 1992, whether as direct participants or as key figures. It is a remarkable record and the question now is will it extend to 2016.

The Dublin dinner was a poignant occasion and one that was dominated by talk of what was next for a remarkable woman who has been Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, First Lady and a law lecturer in her career.

She has a resume unmatched by any modern day politician, indeed you would have to go back to the time of Jefferson to meet one politician who has held so many titles.

But a long resume is not necessarily a qualification for higher office in America. Barack Obama was just a one term senator .

It is not disputed that she is eminently qualified to be president of the United States. The question is will she be a contender and can she win?

There is also the bitter experience of 2008 to consider when she started as the red-hot favorite only to burn out as Barack Obama rode a massive media tide and an internet wave to victory in the primaries.

That defeat singed her in a way no other political setback had hurt. Yet the temptation for one last campaign at the age of 69 in 2016 is very real.

The speculation is already rife. The latest opinion polls show her at record popularity. her husband, fresh from helping secure Obama's victory is also at new levels of approval. Obama will be gone in four years.

Hillary wasn’t saying on Thursday night what her plans were but her tireless aide Huma Abedin did pipe up and say “vacation” when the question was raised on about what she would do next.

Hillary did not address the issue but instead went around the table and asked for memories of her Irish trips and Irish American events.

It was a poignant moment. If this really is her last job in public life as many believe, then she is bidding farewell to Ireland and will return only as a private citizen.

Ireland is very special for the Clintons, where they both proved their mettle on the peace process and established  friendships and links that endure to the present day. Unlike Obama's Moneygall trip which
was little more than a pleasant interlude, the Clintons take their Irish involvement very seriously.

Her aides say that as Secretary of State she has repeatedly used the Irish example in talks with Middle East leaders and others as an example of how those of different ethnicities can get along.

In many ways it was her proving ground. As she had mentioned earlier in her speech at Dublin City University, her first efforts at diplomacy in Northern Ireland had been putting the kettle on and meeting with women from different  backgrounds.

During her husband’s first visit to Northern Ireland in 1995 Hillary had met with community activist Joyce McCarten and dropped into her community center for tea with women of different backgrounds.

Hillary remembered she took the battered aluminum teapot back to the White House and used it as a symbol of her peacekeeping efforts.”

At the time she stated " Joyce gave me an old battered aluminium teapot - which kept the tea very warm, which is what I first noticed about it - that I took with me to the White House where I used it
every single day in the second floor private kitchen."

That unlikely start as a negotiator who eventually ended up facing off with world leaders and despots in the world’s trouble spots was an invaluable insight into bringing people together by stressing their
common humanity she said.

Thus, the women of Northern Ireland and her experience with the Vital Voices campaign stood to her she said.

Other lessons from Northern Ireland have clearly impacted.

The memories came cascading as friends and aides on Thursday night remembered. That December 1995 trip to Belfast and Derry when President Clinton addressed hundreds of thousands and Van Morrison sang “There Will Be Days Like This” was mentioned as a defining moment.

So too was the raucous White House Party on St.Patrick’s Day in the mid 1990s when the couple finally told the carousing Irish from both sides of the divide, who would not go home, to turn the lights off they were going to bed.

Then there was the memory of the first Vital Voices conference in Belfast bringing the women from both sides together.

Earlier at Dublin City University Hillary had revealed her emotional side when mentioning a champion of those days, Inez McCormack, now battling a serious cancer.

Hillary has called the Northern Ireland peace activist several times during her illness, a sign as always that the Clintons do not forget close friends.

This is the new Hillary, the emotional one who reaches out far more than she did. As First Lady she was stand offish, as U.S. Senator she was far more engaging and direct, as Secretary of State she has her husband’s ability to connect with people.

When it came to Hillary’s turn to speak on Thursday night she recalled the Adams visa and the overwhelming advice not to give it and the decision her husband made to grant it.

That taught her too she said, that tough decisions often upset your own side as much as the opposition.

The 2016 race is such a tough decision. There is the capacity to upset key figures in the Democratic Party if she overly delays her decision to run or not in 2016.

There are two candidates chomping at the bit, New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.

Both are bright, young and ambitious yet know that they are frozen in place until Hillary makes up her mind.

If she is clever they will have a long wait. The later she decides the harder it is to mount a campaign against her, the harder it is for an outsider like an Obama-type to mount a guerilla campaign against her.

Yet she knows how fickle the press is, how they will seek to anoint some other new candidate if only to sell newspapers when the time comes around.

Her abrupt fall from grace in 2008 when she thought she was the anointed one is still on her mind.

By 2016 some other candidate now in the long grass will have emerged perhaps. In 2008 they saw the now disgraced John Edwards as the looming threat.

Obama was in their rear view mirror his chance unlikely to come for at least another eight years. He soon destroyed that illusion.

So as she departs Ireland after her successful Dublin and Belfast visits Hillary Clinton will have much to ponder. As soon as she gets the rest she so desperately needs she will face the greatest choice of her life, to run or not in 2016.

Already some Republcian candidates have made shapes and visited early battleground states.

With campaigns startng earlier and earlier Clinton will be hounded to declare by the end of 2013 on whether  she intends or not to run.

In a life full of drama, glory and bitter defeat, the guess is Hillary will indeed seek that magic ring one more time and run for the White House.

The Clintons do not like unfinished business and the most remarkable couple in the history of the Republic are unlikely to pass up one final shot at history.

Hillary Clinton singing in the rain in Ireland as she makes her final visit -- Mentions Gerry Adams visa as a defining moment in her work for Northern Ireland

Hillary Clinton at the US Embassy in Dublin (Credit: Rueters)

It rained cats and dogs in Dublin on Thursday but that hardly bothered the gawkers or the thousand or so gathered in line to hear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speak.

She was in Dublin to address students and the general pubic at the Helix Auditorium on the campus of Dublin City University (DCU) on Dublin’s north side, on the topic of human rights.

Unlike Bill Clinton, who approached every public appearance like a jazz riff, arriving late and meandering down a receiving line like a drunken sailor, Hillary is far more efficient and time conscious.

Once at a fundraiser I helped organize for the Clintons, Bill was on time much to the relief of his officials. Suddenly he ducked into the hotel’s kitchen and re-appeared a half-hour later surrounded by waiters and busboys.

When Hillary arrived at DCU,  there was no such meanderings as she quickly made her way down the VIP receiving line remembering every name and face.

As First Lady she was stand offish and ill at ease, these days she positively bonds with everyone in sight.

While Bill is the original emoticon smiley face, Hillary has become far more comfortable around people and it shows.

Aides say she studies names and faces intently, especially on foreign trips, and has never been known to get a leader’s name wrong.

Before her talk she laughed and smiled and preened for pictures, as always comfortable among Irish friends who have become a mainstay of her political career.

Read more: Reactions to ‘mob rule and violence’ as protests over Union Jack in Northern Ireland continue – VIDEO

Preliminaries completed the major topic when the Secretary of State disappeared backstage to complete her hairdo.

It really wasn't a hairdo, it was a pony tail as far as I could see, hair severely pulled back from her head and tied at the back.

“Don’t like it,” said one usher, decidedly opposed.

”Makes her look older, she should have it done glamorous like.”

“I loved it,” said a woman on the receiving line, fearful perhaps that someone in Hillary’s camp would overhear.

Everyone agrees she looks tired, puffy around the eyes, in need of a break. She admits so herself.
She has traveled over a million miles and to 112 countries. She has lived on a plane. Her aide Huma Abedin says it is all like a blur these days.

By all accounts the 757 State Department plane is not that comfortable as a residence.

Many present in Dublin were hoping she would be swapping it for Air Force One sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Her appearance before the audience in Dublin City University was one highlight of a day that included dinner with old friends at a Stephen’s Green club called The Residence.

There she sat among 20 or so compatriots and Irish born who have been with her through all the trials and tribulations and high points of her successful career.

I was lucky to be there and to break bread with the most extraordinary woman in the history of American politics, one who many consider just one campaign away from the White House.

Each of her friends stood up and spoke about what her friendship had meant. I talked about that magical day in Belfast in December 1995 when she and Bill as president and First Lady visited Northern Ireland for the first time and changed the North for ever. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Interesting that what was on her mind was the Gerry Adams visa when she spoke, the defining moment as she saw it in her and her husband’s involvement in Irish affairs.

As she prepares to embark on the next phase of her life, Hillary Clinton will have the world playing the usual guessing game that has become such a part of her stock in trade.

She teases, maddens, but rarely disappoints. Like what her latest hair do will be, she can be an international woman of mystery, waiting to unveil her latest move.

Me? I believe she will run in 2016. Her time in Ireland has only reinforced that for me. There is too much history being made to stop now.

Hurricane Sandy brings President Obama and Chris Christie together for a great moment in American politics -- Political rivals put America first down on the Jersey shore

President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (Credit: AP)

It was a great moment for American politics yesterday when President Obama and New Jersey governor Chris Christie strolled to the podium together after visiting the Jersey shore.

It was a remarkable moment, one that Americans starved of political grown-ups could favor. It was state and federal working together. It was two men submerging their political differences for the common good.

They made a political odd couple, the tall, muscled African American president and the roly-poly governor who clearly never passes a donut shop.

But together they pulled the lever on co-operation for the common good, the one part of politics that the vast majority of Americans want to see from their politicians.

In the shadow of the presidential election it was a far greater risk for Christie and for his political future.
Already there is a cacophony on the right that he should have invited Romney too. “Et Tu Christie” was one of the less profane headlines.

But there is only one president, the man who holds the purse strings on federal aid. Christie is known as a governor who gets it done and this time all politics was local, not national.

By embracing Obama, Christie ensured that federal help would be even more swiftly dispatched and that his state would be at the front of any line.

For Obama the idea of appearing with the man who slammed him at the Republican convention where he was keynote speaker must have seemed somewhat surreal.

But Hurricane Sandy has changed the dynamic of the presidential campaign and the catastrophe surrounding the hurricane has taken the media attention of the horse race.

I think both men will benefit from their meeting and their joint efforts to help the distressed residents of New Jersey.

In the long run if Romney is defeated and Republicans are looking for a moderate in 2016 they can look no further than Christie.

For Democrats the short term win is for Obama but the big winners are the American people who can finally see how politics can work for the benefit of the people and is not all about name calling.

President Obama And Gov. Christie Tour New Jersey Shore After Hurricane Sandy Disaster 2012

Hi, I’m Niall and I’m a pollaholic with election fever -- Ups and down lead to bipolar mood swing states

Hi I’m Niall and I’m a pollaholic.

Yes, I’m that person who spends most of their day fretting and fussing about the latest national polls. I call it bipolar mood swing states.

I realize my position is incurable and that there are no known antidotes until after November 6th.

Clearly it is hereditary. I grew up in a household where the Irish Civil War happened yesterday and fiery debates were still going on decades later.

My father was an unabashed partisan who took a side and stuck to it, hell or high water.

It rubbed off on me—which is why I’m now addicted to American politics.

Like most Europeans living in America, I’m reflexively a Democrat, and Bill Clinton’s role in the Irish peace process sealed the deal for me.

So now I’m cheering Obama on.

From early morning I’m on it. RealClearPolitics.com for breakfast.

If Obama is ticking upwards, breakfast is a cool mellow meal.

If he’s behind I’m blaming those biased Republican pollsters.

Then there’s Politico.com with the latest scuttlebutt from the campaigns.Then there’s Huffington Post of course, to see my own views reflected back.

Or TalkingPointsMemo.com for the latest slanted news from the Democratic camp.

I can get real hardcore and dip into DailyKos.com the hard-nosed liberal site where Republicans are Halloween monsters.

If I need a fix on the GOP side I’m off to RedState.com, followed by Drudge report.

I’ll sometimes torture myself with a quick click into NYPost.com or Fox News.

If I’m feeling like some campaign coverage, it’s the Washington Post or New York Times.

All this before breakfast.

My wife recognizes the symptoms well; she saw them four years ago and four years before that.

She says she’ll take my iMac away if it shows signs of getting worse.

(Memo to self, make sure you know where spare iMac is for daily fix – because it is getting worse.)

Why does this bloody election have to be so close?

It only feeds the habit.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ghost of George Bush haunted Mitt Romney in final debate -- A victory for Barack Obama by default as Romney lies low

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama during their final presidential campaign debate

There was a third candidate in the arena with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama last night as the ghost of George Bush hovered over the proceedings.

It was a night that was a clear victory for Obama. CBS had it 53 to 23 percent in their poll of undecided voters while CNN had it 48 to 40 percent in their poll of registered voters.

A battleground poll in the key swing states had voters there giving Obama 52 to 42 percent.

Overall Obama did himself some good and Romney certainly did not advance but it is debatable how much ground he lost.

Bush, like Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth, unsettled Romney enough that he never seemed to have Obama’s measure. He was strangely passive and defensive.

Obama had tried unsuccessfully to link Romney to Bush policies in the domestic debates but had failed—however. the shadows of Iraq and Afghanistan loomed too large for Romney to escape.

Read more news on the US Election 2012

As a result Mitt Romney came to play defense in the final debate but lost to a much more energized and feisty Barack Obama.

It was a strange performance by Romney who may have decided that he needed to look presidential and not a hothead when it came to international affairs.

What was clear was that Republicans still live in the shadow of George Bush and his failed presidency, especially on foreign affairs.

Romney knew he had to guard against reawakening echoes of the Bush era, now viewed as cowboy diplomacy at its worst.

In the process however, he was silent on Obama’s foreign policy.

The Benghazi incident that most debate watchers had predicted would be the biggest issue was hardly raised.

Obama mentioned Israel 43 times, a clear indication that he was safeguarding his nearly 4-1 lead among Jewish voters.

Romney mentioned how many times he agreed with Obama and seemed to punt every time he had the chance to go for it.

A puzzling debate that will have tongues wagging as to its ultimate impact for some days yet.

Here's the highlights from the debate:

Meeting Romney and Obama on their New York ceasefire night -- A shining moment in a campaign desperately short of them

President Obama, Cardinal Dolan and GOP Candidate
Mitt Romney at Thursday night's charity event in NYC (Credit: AP)

An amazing sight awaited down a long corridor on the second floor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, past a dark screen and several alert secret service agents and then into a large meeting room.

There, standing less than five feet apart, separated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, were the two men fighting tooth and nail for the most important job in the world, the President of the United States.

As I approached I could not but feel an extraordinary sense of pride. What an amazing statement about this country, that the two men in the midst of a titanic battle could set the battle aside and come together in the cause of raising $5 million for New York’s neediest.

President Obama and Mitt Romney seemed utterly at ease. I complimented Obama on his Irish trip and he reminisced for a moment about it. “I need that Irish Moneygall vote,” he joked, referencing the village in Offaly where his ancestors hailed from.

Mitt Romney is ramrod straight, far younger looking than his 65 years, and his wife Ann is even prettier than she appears on TV. They are a striking couple, side by side.

I asked Romney would he visit Ireland if elected. “Of course,” he said, “I’m a Massachusetts politician, what would you expect,” he joked.

Later, on stage, the two men gave command performances, firing punch lines not punches back and forth so rapidly that sometimes it was hard to catch them.

They were in New York for the annual Al Smith dinner, the great lollapalooza of New York politics, where everyone gathers for the annual rite of reminiscence to the first Irish Catholic to run seriously for president.

Read more on the US Election 2012

Henry Kissinger (he’s still alive!) was there, so was Ed Koch, Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer to name a few, and every bishop and major businessman and woman in the five boroughs and Long Island.

MC was Al Smith IV, great grandson of the late and great Al and a born comedian with a wonderful sense of timing as he made the introductions. His best line was that Mitt Romney created more sons (five) than Obama did jobs.

Romney has a sense of comic timing that was unexpected to me. He seems ill at ease often in such settings but not last night, where his zingers found their target and the crowd guffawed and laughed along.

Obama proved equal to the task, if not quite as funny. His best line was how Mitt was Romney’s second name and he was lucky to have it as he couldn’t use his own much (it’s Hussein).

He also gave a spoiler alert for Monday night’s debate on foreign policy (look away -- we killed Bin Laden if you hadn’t heard).

The real surprise for me was Cardinal Dolan who made an impassioned speech about what he called the “un’s” in America, the unemployed, the undocumented, the unborn, the unmarried mothers, the unfit and forlorn. It was a passionate plea for both candidates to note that the government’s major role was to help those who could not help themselves.

Dolan had come under pressure not to invite Obama because of the abortion issue. He proved last night he had done exactly the right thing and showed the power of the Catholic Church in so doing.

The 1,500 or so of those who attended went home happy and sated. As an immigrant, it was one of those occasions I thanked my lucky stars I had come to America.

With so much at stake the two men fighting it out for the White House found time to come together to help and raise money for those in need.

It was an extraordinary moment in a campaign known for its nastiness but one also capable of being kinder, gentler.

We need more of that to lift people up.

Talented Joe Kennedy the next great Kennedy political leader? -- The next generation of Kennedys comes to bat in Boston race

Joseph P Kennedy III on the campaign trail

When it comes to politics, regardless of possessing a famous name, you can’t fake it when it comes to the red meat: mixing with, chatting to and addressing people, solving their problems.

That was the way with many of the offspring of the Kennedy family, who were ill fitted for political offices despite the incredible family history.

That was no knock on them. As Brendan Behan remarked, “Genius does not come in litters” and following in the footsteps of Jack, Robert, and Teddy Kennedy was surely the most difficult political undertaking in the world.

Inevitably, there was disappointment and regret that the Kennedy dynasty seemed at an end, especially when Patrick, Teddy’s son, stepped down from Congress in 2010 and ended an unbroken run back to 1947 when John F. Kennedy became a congressman.

But now comes a young Kennedy who is ready to restore the legacy. Joe Kennedy III is running for Barney Frank’s seat in the 4th district in Massachusetts and looks like a sure thing as the polls have him far ahead.

The grandson of Robert Kennedy, son of former Congressman Joe, will reignite the Kennedy name in national politics and I have strong suspicions this guy will go a lot further than the congressman.

I had the occasion to meet Joe, now 32, last week at our “Irish New England Leaders” awards held at the Irish Consulate in Boston – and I came away very impressed.

He was the winner of our Young Leader award and according to Consul General Michael Lonergan who hosted the evening, he was the first Kennedy clan member to come to the consulate.

While it is always difficult to size someone up in a brief meeting, Joe Kennedy strikes me as a natural politician, which was certainly not the case with many of his relatives.

When he got up to speak at our event, I was even more impressed.

He threw away his notes, spoke eloquently about his Irish heritage and drew the crowd in with his recitation of what his family history of commitment to the poor and the needy had meant to him.

“I believe this country was founded on a simple idea: that every person deserves to be treated fairly, by each other and by their government,” might sound clichéd when coming from someone else, but given the family history and the fact that two of his family predecessors gave their lives for those very sentiments, it came across as genuine.

He has walked the walk too, spending two years in the Peace Corps (he is a fluent Spanish speaker), working for free legal aid in Harvard, and developing a reputation as a crusading assistant district attorney.

Don’t look for any scandal allegations circling around this redheaded Kennedy either. His strongest drink is coffee, he’s engaged to his college sweetheart and his social life is said to be as tame as some of his relatives were wild.

There will be great expectations and outsized publicity when he arrives in Congress, as he surely will. But this Kennedy is hardly likely to have the bright lights or the family reputation turn his head.

There is a lot to like about young Joe Kennedy and the feeling of a new era in America’s most famous political dynasty is real. It will be fascinating to watch.

Joe Biden wins debate by not losing and ‘malarkey’ accusations fly -- Biden, Ryan donnybrook was a debate to really remember - VIDEO

Joe Biden & Paul Ryan in last nights debate
(Credit: AP/Charlie Neibergall)

A CBS poll of undecided voters gave last night’s debate 50 to 31 percent to Joe Biden while a CNN poll of all voters gave it to Ryan by 48 percent to 44 percent.

I think Joe Biden shaded the debate last night by just being himself and clearly not losing. That’s not a load of "malarkey", ie hot air. The Irish expression somehow made it into the middle of the presidential debate, though some spell it "mullarkey".

Biden is one of the most liked men in politics, and that is what came across in the debate.

I have met Biden many times, interviewed him once when he was a senator, and always came away impressed with his easy manner and basic decency.

He has an easy Irish charm, hail-fellow well met and the Vice Presidency suits him well.

That was what came across with the Ryan stand-off. He was keeping Paul Ryan under pressure but managed it in an amiable way and he “righted the ship” as political editor Gloria Borger on CNN noted.

Biden accused his fellow Irish American of "malarkey" at every opportunity and kept Ryan off balance enough so that he never got to do a Romney and slam home unchallenged  assertions.

Biden accomplished what Obama never did, aggressively challenging fundamental Republican policies.

The fear of Democrats on the way in was that Biden would collapse like a burst balloon as Obama did in the first debate.

Near panic had spread through Democratic ranks after Obama’s faux pas. The slippage in the polls was a nightmare scenario come true.

There has been a tendency on the right to paint Biden as a buffoon liable to go rogue at any moment but he proved far from that.

Read all the Election 2012 news here.

Biden proved a hardy road warrior, well versed in the key debate issues.

Ryan is an extremely smart politician who comes across as robotic at times, but is very much in command of his facts.

It was a fascinating debate, full of substance, superbly moderated. It was everything the first debate was not.

The key moment for me in the Vice Presidential debate was when they both dealt with their religion and the issue of abortion.

It was an intensely personal moment, devoid of the accusations and reams of figures that each can spout.

Ryan made clear that he was personally opposed based on his experience of listening to his first child’s heartbeat at seven weeks.

Biden referred to Catholic social teaching but also stated that he was personally opposed to abortion but would not impose his views.

It was hard not to accept both men at face value and understand they were sincere in their sentiments.

Biden has bought Obama time, a precious commodity, but Tuesday night’s debate in Long Island now takes on even more importance.

Bring it on!

Complete Vice Presidential Debate 2012: Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan - Oct:

Irish donnybrook as Joe Biden versus Paul Ryan key for presidential debate -- Gift of the gab Biden versus ‘just the facts’ new politician Ryan

Irish American politicians Paul Ryan and Joe Biden gear up for their first major battle

Incredible, but the presidential race could come down to the debating skills of two Irish American politicians who were viewed as bit players just a few weeks ago.

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan were supposed to be the afters, while the main course was Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

However, after Romney’s sensational knockout of Obama in the first presidential debate the Ryan/Biden stand-off in Kentucky suddenly looms large.

The polls are essentially tied which means that any major mistake or a similar poor showing by Biden could doom the Obama campaign suddenly on the back foot.

For Paul Ryan, a complete unknown to most Americans, it will be the first and only chance to introduce himself. Is he the cost cutter and right-wing ideologue that the Democrats paint him as or a visionary young politician who will loom as a giant some day as Republicans believe?

Biden, whose secret service code name is “Celtic” will be trying to stop the rot that suddenly pervades the Obama campaign after the president’s faux pas in the first debate.

Paul Ryan, descendant of Tipperary Famine era immigrants, will seek to continue the upward momentum and the suddenly kinder, gentler image of the Romney/Ryan campaign.

The two men could not be more different. Biden is the Irish politician of legend; warm, gregarious, and downright sentimental at times. Ryan is a more withdrawn number cruncher, bright as all hell, and someone who sees politics as a battle about ideas not sentiment.

But those stereotypes will only carry both men so far. This presidential election is a battle about core ideas and both men personify the difference even more than the presidential candidates.

It is the small government, cut and slash spending view as against the traditional model that we can solve issues through government and private partnership.

This is what will make this debate so fascinating. The American people are finally engaged after the first debate and it is game on with polls showing the race the closest since Kennedy/Nixon and Bush/Gore.

Ryan has the tougher task, introducing himself to the American people under the harsh spotlight of a desperately close presidential campaign.

He is not in Wisconsin anymore and there has to be a sense of nervousness and anxiety heading into his big night.

Biden on the other hand has been known for his verbal gaffes and has to watch that Irish gift of the gab which isn’t such a gift on occasions.

Biden was chosen in 2008 by Obama to reach that Catholic working class voter who is so crucial in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Ryan was also picked in part because of that profile and both men will be aiming directly at the undecided vote, which contains so many Catholic working class voters.

They say Vice Presidential debates do not decide elections, but in one as close as this it could have a massive impact.

After Obama’s poor performance the pressure on Joe Biden is greater than he has ever experienced in a long political career.

But I have a funny feeling it will be the old dog for the hard road when the smoke clears.

Read more: New information on Vice President Joe Biden’s Irish roots uncovered

Read more: The Paul Ryan American dream -- fleeing famine in Ireland to Vice Presidential ticket

Mitt Romney wins the first debate against a listless Barack Obama -- A debate with a flood of facts and figures to befuddle everyone

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama at the Denver presidential debate

Mitt Romney won the first debate against Barack Obama just by showing up in a fighting mood against a lackluster incumbent.

In a debate weighed down by facts and figures and financial data, Romney was faster on his feet than Obama.

The aura of invincibility that descends on every White House occupant was scraped off by Romney’s combative performance.

It was Obama’s first debate in four years and it showed. He seemed disengaged, not the fiery candidate who took the stage by storm four years ago against John McCain.

Beforehand 72 percent of Americans thought Obama would win, the typical numbers for an incumbent. So Romney did far better coming from a lower expectation base.

But while Romney won on style, Obama landed some punches, especially when focused on Romney’s plan to cut $5 trillion in taxes.

“We have a horse race,” said David Gergen on CNN, the most seasoned of all political operatives who gave Romney the verdict on a night that may have changed the course of the race for the White House.

Even James Carville, the attack dog Democrat, had little good to say about Obama’s performance, saying he gave the impression he did not want to be there.

“The president did not bring his “A” game," said Carville

Obama was somehow subdued, his best moments were in his closing remarks when he finally felt and looked passionate when asking the American people for four more years.

At the same time, the two were reminiscent of two fighters clutching each other in the center of the ring without landing any punches for very long periods.

In the end, there was no knockdown, no moment like when Ronald Reagan floored Jimmy Carter, or Lloyd Bentsen when he decked Dan Quayle with his “You’re no Jack Kennedy” line.

All of which means that Romney will pick up some momentum making this a closer race than the pundits were predicting just a few weeks ago.

Read more: IrishCentral's up-to-date stories on the US presidential election 2012 here

Muslim leaders need to incite less, understand more -- Failure to comprehend West means they lose all support

Still from movie "Innocence of Muslims"

The blood-dimmed tide was loosed again in the Middle East over the latest crazy reaction to a “film” that a five-year old would have shot better.

Have you actually watched the film that all the murder and mayhem has been about?

It is called “Innocence of Muslims” and I watched it on YouTube last night and thought it was some kind of hellish joke.

It is so badly put together and utterly impossible to follow that it is quite possibly the worst film ever made.

It makes “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” look like “Ben Hur,” and “Ali Baba” look like high literature.
How millions of Muslims can take such grave offense that people have died because of this piece of garbage is hard to believe.

More to the point, the Muslim leadership needs to stop fueling the flames every time some idiot casts aspersions on their religion.

Catholics did not riot when the “Piss Christ” exhibition took place in New York featuring a crucifix in a jar of urine.

Nor did Jews riot when violently anti-Semitic texts were approved for schools in many Muslim countries.
I understand it is a complex issue but let’s call a spade a spade. The “movie” I watched on YouTube has as much to do with Americans and the American government as I have with Genghis Khan.

Attacking America is a reflex action of course, anti- Americanism is always the safe fallback, the better to keep the attention away from many of their own despotic leaders.

But Muslim leaders really need to come into the 21st Century and stop the demonization that is leading to such violence.

It is destroying any hope of a common understanding.

They need to look at the mote in their own eye as we all do. A parody Twitter account of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, posted: “Wow! Good thing I just bombed mosques, killed women and children and I didn’t make an anti-Muslim video! People would be after me!”

That says it all.

As W.B. Yeats wrote,

“The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”

Read more: Family of Irish American former Navy SEAL killed in Libyan protests mourn their “hero” - VIDEOS

Hillary Clinton is the big winner after powerful Bill Clinton speech -- Obama forced to back her in 2016 after Bill saves his bacon - VIDEO

President Obama applauds Bill Clinton after his speech at the
Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night

Mr President Obama, meet your new best friend, Mr President Clinton.

Please also tip your hat to Mr President Clinton's spouse, Hillary Clinton who may well now be Mrs President Clinton in 2016 .

In all my years I have never heard a better Clinton speech than what he delivered to the Democratic National Convention last night.

Barack Obama owes him big time.

The payoff for Bill Clinton is obvious. If President Obama is re-elected he is now forced to back Hillary if she runs in 2016.

Hillary was the biggest winner next to Barack Obama last night.

Though she's in China on a State Department mission, her presence loomed large in the convention hall after Bill's stemwinder.

Democrats love the old dog, especially when he is let off the porch as Clinton was last night .
Clinton recently has  looked older, has lost some of his booming cadence, and sometimes sounds very weary on stage.

Last time I heard him in County Cork at the American Ireland Fund dinner there he appeared punch drunk from a long flight and gruelling schedule and I wondered if the old master was losing a step or two.

I should not have worried.

I've been listening to him and supporting him since 1990 when he was an obscure governor from Arkansas.

I always knew he could deliver a stemwinder but this DNC speech was a tsunami compared to to the minor Atlantic wave disturbances we heard from the GOP.

It hit the spot at exactly where Democrats wanted it.

For the past two years many have bemoaned the inability of leading Democrats to articulate how they feel they are being stymied and blocked at every turn by Republican extremism..

The feeling most Democrats have is that the Republicans have gone as far right as Democrats went left with George McGovern.

Most Dems I know want to cross the aisle and work together, they want to make things work, but feel that Republicans have blocked everything in sight and they are frustrated that the electorate does not see that.

Last night Clinton caught all that beautifully with his single comment that, ”We believe ‘we’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.’”

Don't just take my word for it; two battle hardened national  journalists who are the last word when it comes to cynical assessment of politicians, both told me it was the best speech by Clinton they had ever heard.

And Hillary no doubt thinks so too!

Here, courtesy of Politico.com are the 15 best lines as they saw them:

1. ”We believe ‘we’re all in this together’ is a far better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.’”

2. “Democracy does not have to be a bloodsport. It can be an honest enterprise.”

3. “Senator, I hate to break it to you, but we’re going to keep President Obama on the job!”

4. “One reason we need to reelect President Obama is he is still committed to constructive cooperation.”

5. “So here’s another jobs score: President Obama plus 4.5 million, congressional Republicans zero.”

6. “No president, no president — not me or any of my predecessors, no one, could have repaired all the damage he found in just four years. But he has laid the foundation for a new, modern, successful economy, of shared prosperity, and if you renew the President’s contract you will feel it. You will feel it.”

7. “So are we all better off because President Obama fought for health care reform? You bet we are.”

8. “When Congressman Ryan looked into that TV camera and attacked President Obama’s Medicare savings as quote ‘biggest coldest power play,’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Because that 716 billion dollars is exactly, to the dollar, the same amount of Medicare savings that he has in his own budget. It takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.”

9. “You won’t be laughing when I finish telling you this.”

10. “As their campaign pollster said ‘we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.’ Now that is true. I couldn’t say it better myself.”

11. “I think this [debt] plan is way better than Gov. Romney’s plan. First, the Romney plan fails the first test of fiscal responsibility: The numbers don’t add up.”

12. “We simply cannot afford to turn the reins of government over to someone who will double down on trickle-down.”

13. “Now people ask me all the time, how we go four surplus budgets in a row. What new ideas did we bring to Washington? I always give a one word answer: Arithmetic.”

14. “The most important question is, what kind of country do you want to live in? If you want a you’re-on-your-own, winner-take-all society, you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared prosperity and shared responsibility — a we’re-all-in-this-together society — you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

15. “Though I often disagree with Republicans, I actually never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate our president and a lot of other Democrats.”

Cardinal Dolan right to see the light and agree to speak at Democratic convention -- Huge error appearing at Republican convention only with closing prayer

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan (Photo: AP)

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is doing the right thing speaking at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican one.

His decision came after a storm of criticism about him appearing only at the Republican National Convention in Tampa and not at the Democratic one in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There was also news of a secret meeting between Mitt Romney and Dolan at Dolan’s office in New York which took many observers by surprise.

Why a secret meeting? Why not acknowledge out front that the Cardinal Archbishop of New York was meeting one of the two men who will be president come January next year?

Clearly Dolan, by far the most powerful figure in the American Catholic Church, was displaying a partisan approach that went down badly with many American Catholics.

On social justice issues such as immigration and caring for the poor, the church is far closer to the Democratic party.

On doctrinal issues such as abortion and church affairs, they are closer to the GOP.

The Catholic faithful are probably split in a similar manner with the more conservative wing leaning towards the Republicans and cultural Catholics siding with Democrats.

So the New York archdiocese and Dolan went ahead and finally did the decent thing and acknowledged both parts of their divided faithful.

In a statement on Thursday, the New York Archdiocese stated:

“Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has accepted an invitation to deliver the closing prayer at next week’s Democratic National Convention. As was previously announced, he will also be offering the closing prayer at the Republican Convention on Thursday of this week.

The news of the Democratic convention gig also came after the New York Times revealed that Romney had secretly met with Dolan last month.

“The two had a private meeting, previously undisclosed, at the chancery in New York, across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, said Peter G. Flaherty, a senior adviser to the Romney campaign on religious issues.


Secret meetings and offering benedictions to one side and not the other should not be the style of the Catholic Church and its undisputed leader.


Dolan has already displayed animosity to Obama and sued him over his health care law. He has made plain his disdain for this president and his policies.

On the other side, he positively gushed in a recent radio interview about GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan who hails from his home state of Wisconsin.

It has become obvious for some time that Cardinal Dolan loves his media image and pumps it up at every opportunity.

He positively preens in the spotlight which is harmless enough, but putting the Catholic Church squarely on the side of the Republicans was a major mistake.

It does not seem that long ago that Protestant churches mounted a savage campaign against Catholic John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Many of those churches never fully recovered from the backlash to that onslaught.

This is a deeply divided society right now, even at the level of the US Bishops where some have criticized VP candidate Paul Ryan for targeting his budget cuts at the poor.

Cardinal Dolan should have really known better than to totally align himself with one side.

Luckily he has seen the light.