Benedict XVI: Stumping for Whom?

The campaign for U.S. presidential will be nearing "white hot" status when Pope Benedict XVI visits New York and Washington, DC, in mid-April. At that time, there could be three candidates with strong ties to New York - Hillary Clinton, Rudy Guliani and Michael Bloomberg. However, all of the candidates will undoubtedly try to figure out ways to get into the spotlight that will be aimed at His Holiness.

It would be foolish to think that the Vatican officials responsible for coordinating the Papal visit do not realize the threat of the visit being used to try to push forth a candidate. I have no doubt that all of the individual stops and events will be scheduled and coordinated in a manner to minimize the chances of hijacking for campaign purposes. The White House will have to be sensitive to this, as well.

So, pay close attention to the visit. See which public officials try to clamor for those front row seats at Papal events. With the election battles (even at the primary levels) likely to be close and bloody, each campaign will do everything possible to link their candidate with the biggest positive news story of the time. In mid-April, that story will be the Papal visit.

Pope Benedict XVI will look forward to returning to Vatican City where election concerns have to do with ambiguous smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel. No need to worry about hanging chads back in Roma.