Who will speak for Catholics as we approach the 2008 Presidential election? Along with that, what will the messaging be? I would like for Catholics to speak for Catholics; and I would like the message to be one of hope and a renewed America.

Already in this new Pesidential race, however, we watched our first installment in just how ugly things can get when someone, who pays himself a $300,000/year salary to promote the Heritage Foundation's messaging under the guise of speaking for Catholics, engages in a smear campaign to derail a politician's messaging.

Amanda Marcotte wrote the things she has been accused of writing, and the things she wrote were ugly. That's beside the point. Amanda did not create this scandal, William Donohue did. Amanda wrote to a targeted audience. Most people, including myself, were completely unaware of the content of her blog until Donohue dug it up.

Let's review how a real Catholic would treat this kind of information.

2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. and if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved. -- St. Ignatius de Loyola

2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.

In order to assert negative, and most likely untrue, implications about John Edward's attitude towards Catholics and distract people from the messaging of Edward's campaign, William Donohue illegitimately revealed to a public, broader than was originally aware, of impolite and hurtful commentary written by a low-level staffer. Now I know things like this sadly happens a lot in contemporary politics. But it is not the conduct Catholics should be engaged in; and it is certainly not the type of conduct Catholics should tolerate from people claiming to speak on their behalf.

In the 2004 Presidential race, we had some politicians stand up with ideas about how we can restore America's credibility and renew the hope of American citizens. But the messaging got derailed by fear-mongers and hate-mongers, a few of them well-financed and well-placed.

Now as we approach 2008, some politicians have already come forward with some hopeful ideas; and I look forward to the dialogue. But we, as Catholics, have some ideas about how to bring hope to the future of our nation. If we allow people like William Donohue, Deal Hudson and others to derail this new dialogue with hate, we also allow them to derail what we, as Catholics, have to offer to that dialogue.

I, for one, am looking for Catholics to stand up and stand united -- not around hate and smear tactics, but around our message of life, justice and hope. Let this be the year the power of the Catholic voice is truly heard. Let this be the year we help make a change.