This … sounds like a non-sequitur. Chuck Todd gave Tim Kaine a tough time yesterday about the e-mails published by Wikileaks, including a couple of exchanges in John Podesta’s archives at the Center for American Progress on the Catholic Church.

“I’m curious if, as a Catholic,” the Meet the Press host wondered (7:20 mark in the video below), “you were offended by one of the Wikileaks that came out.” Todd cites the exchange between now-Team Hillary comms director Jennifer Palmieri and CAP fellow John Halpin in which the two denigrated Catholicism’s “severely backward gender relations.” After reading a bit more of the exchange’s lowlights, Todd asked whether it bothered Kaine, a question Kaine dodged by questioning the veracity of the release. “A lot of Catholic Americans have heard that, and some of them are offended,” Todd countered. “What do you say to them?”

Kaine answered that he’s the best evidence that Hillary doesn’t share those prejudices:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8q_Klki4I

“Hillary Clinton’s feeling about faith and about Catholicism in particular is most demonstrated by the fact that she asked me to be a running mate,” Kaine said. “That is the most direct evidence about what Hillary thinks about Catholics.”

Er … maaaayyyyybeeeee, and only with a couple of caveats. This demonstrates more that it takes a Catholic willing to reject the explicit doctrine of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of life, to ignore the teachings of Benedict XVI on the duties of Catholic politicians, and to abandon his own voting record and principles to pass muster with Hillary Clinton. Kaine backs abortion rights by claiming to have found a division between the personal and the political that the Church flat-out rejects, and now is supporting Hillary’s efforts to end the Hyde Amendment to force public financing of abortion — an annual budget rider that Kaine supported to give himself political cover on abortion until this election.

There is a Latin term for Catholics in Kaine’s position: fenestram rusticatio … window dressing. That’s exactly the value that Kaine provides Hillary with Catholics, and Kaine knows it.