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 Timothy Dolan to offer closing prayer at GOP convention in Florida -- Taking sides so openly in presidential election is not a very smart idea

Cardinal Dolan

So Cardinal Timothy Dolan is to give the closing prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

And the Catholic Church is not taking sides in this presidential election.

Here’s the  comment by the church’s spokesman Joseph Zwilling who stated that Dolan had accepted the invitation “within the last two weeks,” and that the move should not be seen as partisan.

“Cardinal Dolan is going to pray, not to engage in partisan politics,” Mr. Zwilling said. “He made it clear when he accepted the invitation that he would also accept an invitation from the Democratic National Committee to offer a prayer at their convention, should they ask.

“He is going simply to pray, which is part of what a priest should do.”

Of course, the fact that he is praying from the stage of the Republican National Convention at the express invite of candidate Mitt Romney is just a coincidence.

Being the smart politician that he is, Mitt blurted it out at the first opportunity yesterday. Asked a question about religious freedom, he stated.

“Well, first of all, I’ll continue to meet with Cardinal Dolan, who, by the way, is going to offer the benediction on the last evening of the Republican Convention after my acceptance speech. So I am making it very clear that the interest of religious freedom is something I support wholeheartedly.”

So If you believe Zwilling there is no difference in Dolan doing this at say a gathering of Walmart employees and at the RNC. I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

Which no one believes for a second, anyway.

Zwilling said that GOP leaders said “they said we would really like you to do it,” when the Cardinal asked. I’ll bet they did.

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 is a major mistake.

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.

Dolan has also displayed his bromance with VP candidate Paul Ryan. Speaking on Sirius radio he stated; “I came to know and admire him immensely ,” he said, “And I would consider him a friend. He and his wife Janna and their three kids have been guests in my house; I’ve been a guest at their house. They’re remarkably upright, refreshing people. And he’s a great public servant.”

Dolan claimed he was “speaking personally and not from a partisan point of view” and “not trying to be an apologist” for Ryan.

He even  praised Ryan’s “call for financial accountability and restraint and a balanced budget,” as well as his “obvious solicitude for the poor.”

Dolan said, “I admire him. He’s honest. He’s refreshing. Do I agree with everything? No, but...I’m anxious to see him in action.”

Dolan is the undisputed leader of the Catholic Church in America and this move puts that church squarely in the Romney camp in this election-- which is where they have no business belonging.

This is a dog whistle to all Catholics out there to support the GOP candidates, Paul Ryan proposed budget cuts to the poor notwithstanding, which had been criticized by other bishops.

Cardinal Dolan should really know better.

U.S. Catholic Bishops have major choice to make between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden -- Problems with both parties makes their choice far more complicated this election

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

U.S. Catholic Bishops have major choice to make between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden -- Problems with both parties makes their choice far more complicated this election

The Catholic Conference of Bishops is between a rock and a hard place in this election.

They are on record as castigating both parties. They slammed Obama for his health insurance clause that the bishops claimed meant they had to subsidize birth control for their employees.

But the Republican ticket has felt the lash as well. Paul Ryan’s budget was roundly slammed by the bishops for its cuts on programs to the poor.

So the presidential election sets up an interesting dilemma for them. There are two Irish Catholics on the tickets, making it certain that a Catholic voice will be prominent in the White House whatever happens.

But which one would they prefer?

I have no doubt they would prefer a Romney/Ryan ticket to succeed.

The church is now heavily dependent on Hispanics for renewal and have staked out a position on immigration far closer to the Democrats. That is a huge issue in this election.

But I still feel the bishops, or the vast majority of them, will side with Romney/Ryan.

The tiebreaker of course, is abortion which both Romney and Ryan oppose and Obama and Biden support.

In addition, social justice issues have slipped down the scale in favor of adhering to the conservative orthodoxies espoused by this pope.

The Catholic vote is critical and the Bishop’s role is powerful, yet it is clear that cultural Catholics, those raised in the faith who no longer practice it weekly, are not influenced by their bishops any more.

Those who are tend to be regular mass goers who hear the weekly sermons.

The Catholic Church has come a long way since President Kennedy faced extraordinary suspicion over his Catholic roots.

Nowadays swing Catholics in key states are the most sought after voting block.

The Bishops have a major hand to play. It will be interesting to see how they deal their cards.

Catholics are now the new Protestants in American presidential politics -- Paul Ryan and Joe Biden symbolize a new era for Catholic politicians

Paul Ryan & Joe Biden (Credit: Policymic)

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan represent the first time ever an American presidential ticket that does not feature a Protestant of some denomination.

Get used to it.

There are instead, two Catholics on the tickets, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan -- get used to that too.

Despite the fact that Biden is only the second Catholic to be part of an elected presidential team -- John F Kennedy was the other -- the future looks bright for Catholic presidents.

Consider in 2016 if Romney fails but Ryan acquits himself well, he will be the obvious frontrunner.

On the other side there will be several Catholics vying, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland are among the frontrunners, perhaps even Biden himself.

It looks like Catholic is the new Protestant.

Look at the US Supreme Court for a clear indication of how Catholics are replacing the once ever-present Protestants in the top echelons.

Once a Catholic on the Supreme Court was an anomaly, now there are six. Count’em -   Kennedy, Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, Sotomayor, Alito.

Certainly the era of anti-Catholicism seems truly dead and buried but it was very real.

In 1960 Dr Norman Vincent Peale, the Billy Graham of his day, when explained the consequences for America if John F.Kennedy was elected, stated:

"Our American culture is at stake," said Peale.

"I don't say it won't survive, but it won't be what it was."

Political strategy is at the heart of the resurgence too. Most presidential elections are settled in the swing states, with Ohio and Pennsylvania chief among them.

Working class Catholics provide the margin of victory in those states and they have gone back and forth between the two parties since Ronald Reagan claimed them as his Reagan Democrats.

Obama handily wins the Catholic vote when it includes Hispanics, but without Hispanics they are the great swing vote.

Protestants on the other hand are all over the shop from Tea Party born-agains to liberal North Easterners.

If you want to win a focused, vital slice of the American electorate, then a Catholic on your ticket is good news as Biden proved in 2008.

Romney is hoping to repeat that magic this time around. It will be interesting to see if he succeeds.

Paul Ryan versus Joe Biden sets up Irish Catholic political showdown - Lace curtain Irish Ryan against Shanty Irish Biden a contest for the ages

Paul Ryan vs. Joe Biden

Paul Ryan versus Joe Biden sets up Irish Catholic political showdown - Lace curtain Irish Ryan against Shanty Irish Biden a contest for the ages

There will be an Irish American Catholic vice president of the United States next January we can now say with certainty.

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan may appear similar in ethnicity and religion but there are as many differences as similarities.

Their Vice Presidential debate will be the first ever between two Irish Catholic contenders for the VP slot. It will make for fascinating viewing as it would be hard to find two politicians who are further apart on how to fix what ails America.

Their views of the role of government could not be farther apart. Ryan is a disciple of another famed Irish American Ronald Reagan, who was always keen to limit government’s growth. Biden is a child of the New Deal and an apostle of the era of Kennedy and LBJ when massive new government programs lifted millions out of poverty.

Ryan is lace curtain Irish, enjoying the benefits of a wealthy upbringing, thanks to a construction company fortune and a successful family legal practice.

Ryan’s home growing up had eight bedroom and six bathrooms and was registered as a state historical residence. Friends describe it as a mansion.

Biden on the other hand grew up mostly in poverty, shanty Irish was the term often used. The family moved in with their Finnegan relatives but still could not make it in Scranton, Pa, and moved to Delaware where Biden’s father became a used car salesman.

Perhaps it is their uniquely different backgrounds that color both men’s politics. Personality-wise both men are seen as affable and popular and not just in their own parties but with opponents as well.

Ryan suffered terrible personal tragedy, coming home from high school and finding his father dead in the bed. Biden too suffered enormously losing his first wife and a daughter in a dreadful car accident.

How will Irish Americans react to the contest.?

Washington Post reporter Melissa Bell had an interesting account from one Irish woman she encountered on the trail with Romney on Saturday.

She wrote: ”Alice Butler-Short, a 70-year-old Irish dance teacher who grew up in Tipperary, Ireland, and now lives in Norton, Va., was clad head-to-high-heeled-toe in American-flag-themed attire as she stood at the front of the line waiting to get into the Manassas event.

“He’s absolutely phenomenal,” she said of Ryan. “Romney couldn’t have done better. He didn’t pick the guy who could help him win this state or that state... He picked the best person for the country.”

“Amen,” said a woman in the crowd next to her.

Will  most Irish Catholics feel the same way? How the Catholic vote goes will decide this election

We’ll know in 86 days.

Congressman Paul Ryan a brave pick by Mitt Romney for Vice President - Charismatic Irish American will force a major economic debate in fall campaign

Paul Ryan

Irish American Congressman Paul Ryan is a brave pick by Mitt Romney. It makes the election a contest about ideas, the “get government off my back crowd” against the “government is needed to keep our social and economic fabric together” group.

Romney could have run on just attacking Obama’s evident economic failures but he saw that policy was not working. He was seven points down in a CNN poll as late as Thursday of this week.

Instead he has picked a man who was once accused -- by a Republican columnist Charles Krauthammer --- of “writing the longest suicide note in history” when he unveiled a controversial budget plan that slashed social security, medicare and medicaid. Ryan has also been attacked by the Conference of Catholic Bishops for proposed cuts to the poorest in society. The Wall Street Journal will love this choice, just a few days ago they were trumpeting Ryan and daring Romney to pick him.

Romney showed a surprising gamblers instinct by doing so. It will be a fascinating clash of ideas in the Fall, not least when Ryan and fellow Irish American Joe Biden square off.

I met Congressman Paul Ryan at an Irish Embassy event in Washington a few years back. He was new to Congress at the time but nonetheless, impressed with his quick mind and clear focus on the future.

He looks the part, strikingly tall and handsome. He is a young man in a hurry at age 42, irrespective of how Romney does, he is now the likely leading figure for the GOP for a younger generation.

He fears his family history, deaths by heart attacks before 60 have become a tragic constant in his family’s medical background. He himself found his own father, then in his mid fifties, dead in his bed and it inspired him to enter politics and try and make a difference.

His Irish roots go back to his great-grandfather’s arrival in Janesville, Wisconsin a riverside town. It is a  town of about 65,000 people dominated by three families, the Ryans, Fitzgeralds and Cullens, known as the Irish mafia. When Ryan had his first run for office at age 28, 14 years ago, a political advertisement showed him walking through the graveyard where his immigrant ancestors lay.

The Ryans were literally the road builders and Ryan Inc, started by his immigrant great grandfather, is now a national construction company. Ryan’s side of the family went into law, however, and no longer have anything to do with the building business.

Paul Ryan grew up in an extended Irish family with eight other Ryan households within shouting distance of his very impressive home which has six bedroons and eight bathrooms and is on the National Register of Historic Places -- doubly so now.

He is popular and accesible to the media almost to a fault.

“The key to understanding me is really simple,” he said.

“I am not trying to be anybody other than who I actually am,” he told the New Yorker in a recent profile and journalists who cover him do find that to be the case.

He has summed up his own political philosophy thus: “Only by taking responsibility for oneself, to the greatest extent possible, can one ever be free,” he wrote, “and only a free person can make responsible choices—between right and wrong, saving and spending, giving or taking.”

It was clear for some weeks as his campaign foundered that Mitt Romney needed a game changer VP pick - and party leaders and the Wall Street journal think the has found the man.

U.S. Representative Paul Ryan could, they had argued, make a persuasive vice presidential pick thanks to what he himself calls the "checklist."

"I check a series of boxes," the Wisconsin Republican reminded the media in 2008. "Young guy. Economics guy. From a swing state. Catholic."

It could be the magic political formula that Romney is seeking to bolster the public's perception of him as a rather uninspiring and dull candidate. Thanks to the controversial budgets that Ryan persuaded House Republicans to pass in 2011 and 2012, he's become a national figure and something of a star of the hard right.

Romney understood that magic allure when he asked Ryan to campaign with him for five days in Wisconsin this spring.

Some of the math isn't promising. Only two sitting House members were selected for the vice presidential spot since 1948 by either party. Both tickets lost and neither VP pick ever held elected office again.

Ryan’s age is another factor. At 42 he is the third-youngest vice presidential selection since World War II, after Richard Nixon, 39, in 1952 and Dan Quayle, 41, in 1988.

According to the Boston Herald, political science researchers and academics debate whether running mates have any effect at all on presidential elections. In a 2001 paper called 'Requiem for a Lightweight,' author David Romero of the University of Texas argued they have none.

Even GOP strategist Karl Rove agrees: "Running mates haven’t decided an election in more than a half-century," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week.

But Ryan may not have gotten the memo. Since the start of 2012 Ryan’s appearances on Sunday news shows rank him second only to Ron Paul, who ran for president. Ryan has repeatedly appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC and other channels.

Ryan may be a practicing Catholic but that was not enough to stop the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops ruling his budget would hurt the poor and vulnerable.  Bishops urged lawmakers to 'resist for moral and human reasons' the cuts to hunger and nutrition programs in the Ryan budget.

Recently more than 80 professors and administrators at Georgetown University signed a letter to Ryan before his appearance at the famous Catholic school accusing him of wrongly citing Catholic teaching to argue for his budget.

Ryan's budget calls for biting cuts in Medicaid and a total overhaul of Medicare for people currently under the age of 55, making both Ryan and his policies a political lightning rod.

Romney will benefit from choosing a charismatic running mate popular with economic conservatives, but he could also be opening himself up to the divisive shortcomings of that choice too. Time will tell.

Cardinal Dolan does the right thing by inviting President Obama to Al Smith dinner

President Obama and Cardinal Dolan

The decision by Cardinal Timothy Dolan to invite President Obama to the Al Smith dinner in New York is a very good political move.

Contrast that with his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, who refused to invite Senator John Kerry when he was opposing President Bush.

Dolan was never going to allow himself to be caught in the meat grinder that Egan did on that occasion.

Though he is suing Obama over health care legislation Dolan knew that snubbing Obama on this occasion would cause a huge backlash.

The Al Smith dinner called after the first major Irish Catholic candidate for president, is a presidential year tradition, a night when the impact of the Catholic vote is recognized.

Cardinal Dolan does the right thing by inviting President Obama to Al Smith dinner -- Avoids the massive mistake of his predecessor Cardinal Egan who snubbed John Kerry

Dolan knew what happened his predecessor. Egan came under immense pressure and eventually kicked for touch and invited Hugh Carey as the Obama surrogate and President Bush senior as his son’s spokesman.

It all came crashing down on Egan who suffered a massive loss of prestige as a result.

With a Catholic Democratic governor in Andrew Cuomo with whom he has cordial relations, Dolan knew well that not inviting Obama would cause a huge rift.

Obama’s presence on the night will be significant. The Catholic vote is absolutely critical in this election, especially in key states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Ironically the tenets of Mormonism are far more hostile to Catholicism and potentially cause problems for Romney than anything Obama might have to say.

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, speaking of the vision he had to start his church noted that he asked his angel what about other religions.

"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. He again forbade me to join with any of them;..."

Romney will obviously not be highlighting that aspect of the relationship between his religion and that of Catholicism.

Apart from the debates the men will not be seen in the same company other than at the Al Smith dinner.

Cardinal Dolan has done the right thing here and deserves credit. There is more than enough divisiveness in American politics already.

Mitt Romney aides criticize Obama for not singing British imperialist song -- In interview they claim Romney the one of 'true Anglo Saxon heritage'

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama (CREDIT : Daily News)

Are these Romney folks for real?

Some anonymous advisors claimed their man a true blue Brit proud of his “Anglo Saxon heritage” in an interview with the London Daily Telegraph.

They sniffed that Obama would never sing “Land of Hope and Glory,” the ultimate British Empire glorification song, implying that Romney would.

Are they insane?

A foreign policy team member was quoted as saying, “We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he [Romney] feels that the special relationship is special. The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.”

It was clearly an ethnic slur aimed at Obama who does not have a drop of ethnic Anglo Saxon in him quite obviously. For “did not appreciate,” read, “Isn’t quite pro-Queen and Empire enough.” ABC news reported the comments as having “perceived racial undertones.”

The New York Times stated that it was an interview “in which an unnamed Romney adviser suggests that because Mr. Romney is white he has more in common with Britain than Mr. Obama does.”

It will also upset quite a few Irish Americans, especially in key states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, who will not be too pleased to see Mitt claim his British heritage quite so enthusiastically.

Rest assured that the Irish peace process would never have happened with Romney in the White House, he would have insisted as his advisors did that the “special relationship” with the British dominated all when that process began and American help was sought

If President Clinton had felt the same way and did not have the political courage to give Gerry Adams a visa back in 1994, they might still be fighting on the streets in Northern Ireland.

Romney’s advisors furiously backpedaled afterwards but it is too late. Vice President Joe Biden, a proud Irish American, was quick to the ramparts.

“Despite his promises that politics stops at the water’s edge, Governor Romney’s wheels hadn’t even touched down in London before his advisers were reportedly playing politics with international diplomacy, attempting to create daylight between the United States and the United Kingdom where none exists,” Biden said in a statement.

“The comments reported this morning are a disturbing start to a trip designed to demonstrate Governor Romney’s readiness to represent the United States on the world’s stage. Not surprisingly, this is just another feeble attempt by the Romney campaign to score political points at the expense of this critical partnership.  This assertion is beneath a presidential campaign,” he said.

Another adviser unbelievably told the paper, “Obama is a left-winger. He doesn’t value the NATO alliance as much. He’s very comfortable with American decline and the traditional alliances don’t mean as much to him. He wouldn’t like singing ‘Land of Hope and Glory.’”

For those of you unfamiliar, “Land of Hope and Glory” is a song about the magnificence of the British Empire. No self-respecting American president would be caught dead even humming it.

  Here’s the first stanza:
Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned,
      God make thee mightier yet !
   On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned,
      Once more thy crown is set.
  Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
      Have ruled thee well and long ;
  By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,
      Thine Empire shall be strong.

Jaysus, as Paddy might say. It looks like Romney’s foreign policy boys will be setting their clocks to Whitehall time and stepping back a century or two.

“Bow, bow to the Lord High Executioner” as the British composers Gilbert and Sullivan once wrote.

Someone needs to tell Romney we have our own country now and we ditched the Brits a few centuries ago and we don’t want to sing British imperialist songs either.

Obama and Clinton attack on Romney on Bin Laden a master stroke? Forcing Romney, GOP, onto back foot on issue of terrorism, defense

Barack Obama certainly has the gloves off after the new advertisement questioning Mitt Romney on whether he would have gone after Osama Bin Laden.

It is a classic judo trick to use your opponent’s perceived strength against him.

Republicans did it brilliantly when they questioned John Kerry’s war hero status back in 2004 against George Bush.

Now the Democrats are taking one of the GOP’s perceived strengths, tough on defense and terrorism, and using it against Romney.

It is based on a Romney statement in 2007 when he essentially stated it was a waste of money chasing after Bin Laden.

The fact that the Obama camp rolled out Bill Clinton to make the attack shows how important a move it is. Only Clinton or another living ex-president can make the compelling argument about how lonely it is at the top.

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Indeed, Clinton quotes George W. Bush approvingly on his remark that the president is the “decider in chief."

Clinton raises the question about Romney is ready brilliantly in the ad.

He asks what the consequences for Obama would have been if he had not made the call or had got it wrong.

Actually, we all know. Jimmy Carter’s failed rescue attempt of the US hostages in Iran was the final nail in his race against Ronald Reagan.

By moving so quickly to blunt a usual GOP advantage, Obama has shown he will be ruthless and direct in this campaign.

It will be interesting to see Romney’s response.

Here is the ad:

Martin O’Malley’s march towards the White House in 2016

Martin O'Malley (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)

The man who may be the next president of the United States after either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, was most recently belting up a storm of Irish music in the White House for the St Patrick’s Day celebration.

He claims he wasn’t measuring the drapes, but he was overawed by warming up in the East Room with all its historic connections

Martin O’Malley, 48, Maryland’s popular second term governor, had reformed his band, O’Malley’s March, for the special occasion.

Sitting over a pint of Guinness in Fitzpatrick’s in Midtown Manhattan this week, O’Malley told me how the White House gig had come about.

Because the White House celebration had to be moved past St. Patrick's Day this year, to Tuesday, March 20, the organizers suddenly found themselves without a band.

Hearing this, the Democratic governor of Maryland decided to lend a hand, or a guitar, and suddenly he was playing for 600 VIPs and the President.

If it was an audition for White House troubadour, O’Malley might not get the job. But the aim may be much higher.

When the talk turns to the presidential race in 2016, as inevitably it will when the November election is past, you can expect to hear a lot more about Martin O’Malley.

Already the buzz is out on the telegenic governor with the Kennedy-type looks and appeal and Irish roots in Mayo.
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On February 3 of this year, The New York Times rated O’Malley, now head of the Democratic Governors Association, in the top three of future Democratic presidential candidates along with Hillary Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Compared with his fellow governors, Mr. O’Malley may be a more natural progressive fighter,” The Times wrote. 

“A former Baltimore mayor, he could point to Maryland’s schools, among the best in the nation, and his willingness to fight for tax increases and cut other parts of government to finance education.”

Chris Cilliza’s influential column “The Fix” in The Washington Post rates O’Malley the number two contender after Cuomo for 2016.

It is heady stuff, but O’Malley is not buying it, at least not yet.

“Let’s see what they are saying by the end of this year, or the end of next year about where people stand,” he says. “Things can change awful fast in this business.”

O’Malley talks about the incredible fundraising that candidates for president have to undergo. By 2016 it may be a billion dollar pricetag to enter the race and run. 

“I remember when raising $30,000 to run for the State Senate was a huge task,” he laughs.

O’Malley also knows how fickle political winds can be.

As we spoke he was under pressure back home after the collapse of budget negotiations at the last moment. One columnist wrote that this happened because O’Malley was spending too much time on the national stage.

O’Malley laughs that criticism off. Latest polls show him in the low to mid fifties in approval ratings in his home state, a figure governors most anywhere would be envious of.

For the next six months O’Malley will be working night and day to elect Democratic governors and re-elect President Obama.

He says the race with Romney will be close, only likely to break Obama’s way in the last few weeks when people really focus on it.

Then it will be on to January, the inauguration of the next president and the beginning of the long march to 2016. My guess is O’Malley’s march will have only begun then.

Rick Santorum is unable to win Catholic vote and it is costing him victory

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney during a presidential debate

Another Super Tuesday another strange reality for Rick Santorum.

The most Catholic candidate in history is losing the Catholic vote-- to a Mormon.

In Ohio the exit poll showed Mitt Romney well ahead among Catholics.

It was not even close, 43 per cent to 30 per cent. It cost Santorum the upset victory.

Even in Oklahoma where Santorum won, Catholics tilted to Mitt not him.

It is certainly an anomaly.

You could certainly never see Mormons voting for a Catholic over one of their own.

Santorum emphasizes his rock rigid Catholic beliefs at every opportunity.

Yet here again we see what became evident in nationwide polls.

Despite his Catholic roots and constant appeal to faith, Catholics themselves do not feel comfortable with him.

Strange.

It may turn out that the lack of Catholic votes may cost Santorum the GOP nomination.

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Why Rick Santorum lost Catholic vote in both Michigan and Arizona to Romney

Mitt Romney and his wife Ann

What to make of the fact that Rick Santorum lost the Catholic vote in both Michigan and Arizona to Romney?

Quite a lot really. Two immediate things, Catholics are clearly more moderate than Rick and secondly, many were scared off by the militant rhetoric Santorum let loose with during the past week.

Amazingly, it wasn't even close.

CBS's exit polls showed that 37 percent of Catholic voters in Michigan supported Santorum while 43 per cent were behind Romney.

CNN exit polls in Arizona showed Romney beat Santorum among Catholic voters by a margin of 41 percent to 35 percent.

Flip that number and Santorum wins Michigan and probably ends Romney's hopes.

Santorum was his own worst enemy with Catholics, scaring the bejabbers out of many of them, especially women with his hostile rhetoric about birth control and no exception for abortion even rape, incest and the life of the mother.


When white middle class Catholics are voting for a Mormon not a fellow religionist it shows things have changed since 1960.

Back then Kennedy got almost every Catholic vote because they were a beleaguered minority.

Nowadays Catholics are utterly mainstream (six Supreme Court Judges) and have no fear of voting across religious lines.

That's good news for Romney.

One could hardly imagine Mormons voting for Catholics against one of their own just yet at least but that day may come.

In the meantime Rick Santorum must be left scratching his head wondering where his Catholic vote went.

Catholic vote is key to 2012 presidential election -- Barack Obama controversy on contraception a huge issue

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Pope Benedict XVI

In nine of the past ten US presidential elections the majority of the Catholic vote has gone to the person who won the election.

Little wonder then that the furor over the Bishop’s attacks on President Obama’s contraception plan created such waves.

In five of those elections, the Catholic vote was within a point of the overall margin of victory, a clear indicator of how vital the vote is.

There is a massive push on for the Catholic vote in both political parties this election season.

As the critical swing vote in key states, they will sway the election.
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The Reagan Democrats, the Irish, Italian, Polish, Catholic blue collar vote, so prominent in Ohio, Pennsylvania and key Midwest states, has chosen the winner a stunning 90 per cent of the time.

Little wonder that in 2008, Barack Obama trumpeted the support of now US Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, Chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers and as Irish Catholic as you can get.

Rooney campaigned widely for the president and was seen as a vital factor in Obama’s victory in Pennsylvania.

Obama won the Catholic vote by 54 per cent to 46 per cent nationally against John McCain though it must be noted that number includes Hispanic Catholics.

Catholic voter make up a quarter of the electorate and as Gerald Seib wrote in The Wall Street Journal this week “They rank right up there with Ohio as a bellwether of presidential-election outcomes.”

It is not surprising then that the furor over the Obama contraception debate has become so heated. There is a huge amount on the line.

The Catholic Bishops have vehemently opposed his plan but the key question is whether their flock is behind them?

Opinion polls of Catholics indicate they are not.

Several polls show Catholics, by a wide margin, feel that contraceptive care should be covered in any health care plan regardless of where that plan is for.

That would hardly be surprising Bishops oppose contraception but 98 per cent of Catholics use them, likewise the bishop’s stances on gays and abortion are supported far less by the ordinary rank and file Catholics.

That fundamental disconnect has only grown larger since the church sex scandals has removed much of the authority of the bishops.

Parishioners now feel less inclined than ever to take their cue from Rome, especially when it involves matters of sexuality.

At the same time there is hardly overwhelming support for the Obama position either, and it begs the question of who will eventually end up winning out on this debate?

Will the contraceptive issue hurt Obama in November or will the Church leaders once again prove they are out of touch with many ordinary Catholics and how they live their lives?

It may not matter much if the latest opinion poll from The New York Times showing Rick Santorum ahead of Mitt Romney in a national poll of Republican voters is to be believed.

Santorum, a deeply conservative Catholic, is simply too extreme and would prove a disaster for the Republican Party.

Ironically, with a Catholic candidate running, it may be the one time their vote is not critical.