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A political rule of thumb is that candidates should never offend a large group of voters, especially close to an election.

Harris ignored that rule, not once, but twice last week.

First, she disrespected the annual Al Smith dinner in New York, which raises money for Catholic charities and has been attended by every modern presidential candidate with one exception – Walter Mondale in 1984. We saw how that worked out when Mondale lost 49 states to Ronald Reagan.

Harris sent a video to the dinner which many people found unfunny. Comedian Jim Gaffigan roasted Harris for not showing up. Former president Donald Trump attended and even though his remarks might have forced him to confession if he were Catholic, Trump may get some points among Catholic voters for being there.

In the video, Harris was joined by Molly Shannon, a former cast member on“ Saturday Night Live,” who played Mary Katherine Gallagher, a hyperactive, egotistical Catholic school girl, a character who might be considered stereotypical and unfunny by some Catholics.

In the clip, Harris asks Gallagher for advice on what to speak about at the dinner. She replies: “Don’t say anything negative about Catholics,” to which Harris responds: “I would never do that no matter where I was — that would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit,” a reference to a recent speech Trump delivered in Detroit during which he criticized the condition of the city.

The second violation of the thumb rule was her comments about abortion hours before the Smith dinner. In Wisconsin, she mocked pro-life hecklers who shouted at her during her speech, telling them“Oh, you’re at the wrong rally. You want the smaller one down the street.”

It is no secret that Catholic doctrine regards life beginning at conception and having value until natural death. For Harris to openly promote abortion on the same day as the Al Smith dinner and after declining an invitation to attend will not sit well with some Catholic voters.

"We will move forward because ours is a fight for the future,” said Harris, “and it is a fight for freedom – for freedom. Like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”

Catholics and pro-lifers of other faiths argue that the unborn child is only a temporary resident of the female body and not a part of it, like an arm or leg.

The way Harris aggressively promotes abortion on demand for any reason and at any time is reminiscent of what some ancient Israelites did as recorded in the Old Testament. Some sacrificed their children on altars to false gods, earning the anger and punishment of the God they were supposed to be serving.

As I have argued for years abortion will not end the attacks on human life. Already we are reading about pods that have been created to help people commit suicide. As people live longer the pressure on the elderly to “die and get out of the way” will grow.

If life’s value is determined by government and not “endowed by our Creator,” there can be no constraints on humans to do whatever they wish to other humans. Today’s horrors become normal in a short space of time. It’s just a matter of conditioning.

The one thing Harris and other “pro-choice” advocates never mention is self-control. Is anyone ignorant about what causes a pregnancy? Are not contraceptives for men and women readily available? The age when a woman’s attitude about sex was “not until we are married” is long gone and society continues to suffer from casting off of all restraints while wishing to avoid consequences of bad decisions.

Not only Catholics may be influenced by Harris’ abortion views in the coming election.

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Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

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