A version of this column appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on June 17, 2008.

WHAT AN exciting time to be a Virginian. Pundits are calling Virginia a 2008 presidential swing state. Not only that, but we have three - count 'em, three - Democrats who've been mentioned as running mates for Sen. Barack Obama.

Former Gov. Mark Warner, who's running for the U.S. Senate, took himself out of the veep stakes over the weekend when he said, somewhat obliquely, "I have not sought and will not accept any other opportunity, because I want to serve in the U.S. Senate."

There's Sen. Jim Webb, a Senate newbie who's lots of things, but never oblique.

Finally, there's Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Not only is he the Democratic governor of a reliably Republican state - in presidential balloting - but he was chosen to deliver the 2006 response to the president's State of the Union address. Plus, he's Roman Catholic, a voting bloc Obama has to crack to win.

Kaine's no ordinary, Mass-every-Sunday-and-holy-day Catholic, either. Our governor's a "devout Catholic."

Don't take my word for it: Google "Tim Kaine," "devout " and "Catholic" and see how many hits you get. (Hint: more than a thousand.)

The media are curiously fond of this hackneyed expression, especially to explain Kaine's opposition to the death penalty.

And just last week, the Boston Globe's online site described Kaine as "a devout Catholic" who "speaks fluent Spanish" in a story about his potential candidacy.

Don't blame Kaine for all this devoutness. A spokesman for the governor, Gordon Hickey, told me he couldn't remember Kaine ever describing himself as "devout."

"He's certainly a man of faith, though," Hickey said.

According to my tattered Webster's, "devout" is an adjective meaning "very religious, pious..."

It's unclear how the media manages to peer into a public official's soul to measure piety. One look at the legions of disgraced evangelists ought to discourage us from this fools' errand.

This isn't the first time the word "devout" has been casually tossed about.

I was a kid when the country was titillated by the talk of an affair between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. It often was said they didn't marry because Tracy was a "devout Catholic" who wouldn't divorce his wife.

"Ridiculous," my Protestant mother would fume. "Devout Catholics don't cheat on their wives."

Thank you, Pope Norma.

Kaine, a former missionary, is undeniably Catholic. Then again, so is Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a product of Catholic schools and a graduate of Notre Dame.

Odd. Members of the media seldom refer to McDonnell as a "devout Catholic," choosing instead to focus on his ties to conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson's Regent University, where McDonnell attended law school.

Could it be our bias is showing?

The only thing we know for sure is that Virginia's governor and attorney general are members of the Catholic church.

Anything else, the pontificators should leave to a higher authority.