Kamala Harris is skipping the Al Smith dinner, a Catholic Charities fundraising event hosted by the archbishop of New York at which the two presidential candidates traditionally attend (the dinner’s namesake, of course, is the first Catholic presidential nominee). Noah and Michael have hit two of the lessons to take from this: that Harris is contributing to the decay of civil discourse in our campaigns, and that she is afraid to appear in a venue that requires wit, warmth, and the possibility of going off-script.

But it should also not be overlooked that Harris is sending a message by boycotting a high-profile Catholic event, during a season of the campaign when past candidates eagerly pursued the opportunity to break bread with the most prominent Catholic cleric in the nation.