Everybody wants the Catholic vote, and now Barack Obama has even formed a Catholic advisory committee, according to the blog at America magazine:

Here’s Obama’s Catholic Kitchen Cabinet:

National Co-Chairs

Senator Bob Casey; Representative Patrick Murphy (PA-08); Former Congressman Tim Roemer, President of the Center for National Policy; Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia; Tom Chabolla, Assistant to the President, Service Employees International Union; Victoria Reggie Kennedy, President, Common Sense About Kids and Guns; Sr. Jamie Phelps, O.P., Professor of Theology, Xavier University; Sr. Catherine Pinkerton, Congregation of St. Joseph.

National Steering Committee

Mary Jo Bane, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School; Nicholas P. Cafardi, Catholic Author and Scholar, Pittsburgh, PA; Lisa Cahill, Professor of Theology, Boston College; M. Shawn Copeland, Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College; Ron Cruz, Leadership Development Consultant, Burke, VA; Sharon Daly, Social Justice Advocate, Knoxville, MD; Richard Gaillardetz, Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies, University of Toledo; Grant Gallicho, Associate Editor, Commonweal Magazine; Sr. Margaret Gannon, IHM, Scranton, PA; Don Guter, Judge Advocate General of the Navy (2000-2002); Rear Admiral, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Pittsburgh, PA; Cathleen Kaveny, Professor of Law and Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame; Jim Kesteloot, President and Executive Director, Chicago Lighthouse; Vincent Miller, Associate Professor of Theology, Georgetown University.

Unless I’m mistaken, all those names belong to lay people. Is there any prohibition on clergy — priests or deacons — serving on something like this? No, I’m not volunteering for the job. Just wondering.