New Pope, Who Dis?
I wasn't really expecting this. I was thinking maybe by the evening of the 2nd day of the Conclave, maybe they'd push it into day three-- but lunchtime on Day 2? That was a surprise and as I sat (as everyone did) and waited for the official announcement to find out who it was, the more convinced I became that this was going to be a fascinating choice. I don't know if we ever get hard data on vote totals from Conclaves-- I do think names float out there after a while-- who came in second, that sort of thing. (That's how we figured out that Pope Francis was runner-up when Pope Benedict came in)- but if I'm guessing (which naturally, I am) I think that if there was a 'liberal' bloc and a 'conservative' bloc, both sides figured out pretty quickly that their preferred candidates were not going to cut the mustard and set to work finding someone who would. (I also love the attempts to try and force an American political analysis into all of this-- yes, this...