BUSH CAMPAIGN'S CATHOLIC ADVOCATE RESIGNS August 19, 2004

The top adviser to the Bush- Cheney campaign on Catholic outreach resigned yesterday in an effort to shield the campaign from a soon-to-be-published story detailing a 1994 sexual harassment accusation by a female student that led to his ouster at Fordham University.

Deal W. Hudson, the publisher of Crisis, a conservative Catholic magazine, announced his resignation on National Review Online yesterday after learning that a story looking at his forced departure from Fordham, as well as "past annulments for my marriages before my conversion to the Catholic Church" was planned by National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly based in Kansas City, Mo.

Hudson's departure comes at a critical point in a presidential campaign season in which both Republicans and Democrats have targeted Catholic swing voters. "He was the point man for Catholics in the Bush- Cheney campaign," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

A spokesman from the Bush campaign did not return calls.

A spokesman for Fordham University confirmed that Hudson had been forced to leave his tenured position teaching philosophy in 1995. "We have a very aggressive sexual harassment policy," said Elizabeth Schmalz, assistant vice president for public affairs.

Hudson does not relate how the accusation was resolved in his column, but says, "No one regrets my past mistakes more than I do." He says, "At the time, I dealt with this in an upright manner and the matter was satisfactorily resolved long ago. It was now being dug up, I believe, for political reasons - in an attempt to undermine the causes I have fought for: the defense of Church teachings on life, the priesthood, the authority of the pope, and the need for faithful Catholic participation in politics."

Tom Roberts, editor of National Catholic Reporter, said the story began as a straightforward profile of a prominent public figure. "But as we started talking to people, these things came up. ... But we decided that he's such a public figure and he's been uncompromising in judging other people's behavior."

-- Miralago (Amused@Perfect.Karma), August 19, 2004

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-- bump (bump@bump.bump), August 19, 2004.