Republican victories in gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia yesterday were striped across the nation's newspapers this morning. The GOP and some in the press were quick to label the results a rebuke to Obama.

Late-breaking results of a special Congressional election in upstate New York that went to the Dems has clouded the picture, though.

Patrick Kennedy and the Catholic Church got in an ugly spat over health care reform last week. And the diocese has invited Kennedy in to meet. From the Congressman's office, a letter back to the church. An olive branch? Sort of:

Thank you for your letter requesting a meeting with me to discuss the church’s position on comprehensive health care reform.

Liberal group Media Matters has an interesting response to the Washington Post piece by David Waters that I mentioned this morning on Congressman Patrick Kennedy's war of words with the Catholic Church over health care reform and abortion.

The backstory, in a nutshell: some Catholic bishops support universal health care, but say they'll oppose health insurance reform legislation that doesn't bar any government funds from being used to pay for abortions.

Interesting piece on the Washington Post blog, Under God, which considers the intersection of religion, government and politics. The authors suggest that Congressman Patrick Kennedy's critique of the Catholic Church's position on health care is misguided. As you may recall, Kennedy blasted the church for opposing any health reform package that does not include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion:

Bishop Tobin of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has lashed back at Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who decried the church's opposition to any health care reform package that does not include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion.

“Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts.

Patrick Kennedy, in an interview with conservative news outlet CNS News, takes the Catholic Church to task for plans to oppose the final health care bill if it does not include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) told CNSNews.com that the Catholic Church is doing nothing but fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position that it will oppose the health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress unless it is amended to explicitly prohibit funding of abortion.

Patrick Kennedy will give the first annual Edward M. Kennedy National Leadership Award to the parents of Matthew Shepard, tortured and killed near Laramie, Wyoming in 1998 because he was gay.

Kennedy will bestow the award at the Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner. President Obama will give the keynote address - just the second sitting president, after Bill Clinton, to appear before the gay rights group.

This week I've got a cover story on Patrick Kennedy, also running in the Boston Phoenix, which looks at a Congressman trying to make his own small mark in the large shadow of Camelot.

The piece notes that Kennedy has been able to rack up big victories against Republicans, even at his most vulnerable. That means an uphill battle for Republican State Representative John J.

Rumors that Patrick Kennedy might leave Congress to take over the Peace Corps, mentioned on Buddy Cianci's talk show today, are not true, according to the Congressman's spokeswoman, Kerrie Bennett. Kennedy, she said, will run for re-election.

Indeed, Kennedy seems comfortable in the House of Representatives, where he is slowly clmbing the ladder on the powerful Appropriations Committee.

The Kennedy confidante reportedly favored by Patrick Kennedy and other family members as a temporary replacement for the late Ted Kennedy in the US Senate has been named to the post. From the Boston Globe:

Governor Deval Patrick today named Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as interim US senator, making the announcement in the presence of the immediate family of the late Edward M.

Add another Kennedy to the list of those backing long-time family friend Paul G. Kirk, Jr. to serve as temporary replacement for the late Ted Kennedy in the US Senate.

Press reports from this morning had US Representative Patrick Kennedy and his brother Edward M. Kennedy, Jr. backing Kirk. And now, the Boston Globe reports that Senator Kennedy's widow Victoria Reggie Kennedy is backing Kirk:

The Associated Press reports that Patrick Kennedy and his brother Edward Kennedy Jr. have called Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and endorsed a close family friend, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk, Jr., as a temporary replacement for their father, the late Ted Kennedy, in the US Senate.

This just in from Patrick Kennedy's office:

“All of us in the Kennedy family are deeply touched by today’s action of the Senate naming the historic Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building for the three Kennedy brothers who meant so much to the Senate and to our country. It’s a beautiful room and a beautiful tribute to President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and my father Edward Kennedy.

This just in from Patrick Kennedy's office:

“Tomorrow, I will be returning to Washington to get back to work on the bold legislative agenda set forth by the House leadership – job creation, economic development, green energy, and health care reform. The support and words of encouragement I have received over the past few weeks certainly help to support my efforts in recovery which I take seriously every day.

Congressional Quarterly, a fave among the Washington set, has a piece on Patrick Kennedy's political endurance amid personal problems. Among those quoted: Darrell West, a Kennedy biographer and former Brown University political science professor who chalks up the representative's survival, in part, to a Catholic culture of forgiveness.