[Knither]

You and Daschle are not in the same box. You didn't claim to be a Catholic in order to get Catholic votes. Daschle did. The bishop cannot legally order Daschle to stop using the claim to be Catholic -- not in any way that would hold up in the civil courts. But he can legally order Daschle not to call himself Catholic within the Catholic Church. If Daschle doesn't care about whether or not he is considered Catholic by the Church he claims to belong to, then the bishop's demand just calls attention to Daschle's claiming to be Catholic which is at odds with the Church. It is a heads up to Catholic voters who might be tempted to vote for him because he's Catholic.

[ninenot]

I suspect a lot of Lutherans will be cognizant of this, too. Remember that Tommy has to run against his own record when in flyover country, and there are LOTS of Lutherans who take religion seriously. That's two big strikes.

And if South Dakota ACTUALLY implements voter-registration reform, it should be curtains for Deeply Disappointed Tommy.