What are voters — of both parties — to make of the decision of Vice President Harris to take a pass on the Alfred E. Smith Dinner? The vice president likes to boast of joy and unity — and her laugh. On that score the Al Smith dinner is one of the most joyful and unifying evenings in American political tradition. It brings together both parties and gives everyone a chance to have a laugh, particularly at their own expense.

The white tie dinner also provides wonderful insights into the candidates personalities. Who knew, say, that Donald Trump was capable of self-deprecating humor? At the Al Smith dinner in 2016, he tells a yarn about how he knows the press was biased against him. To prove it, he cites the brouhaha over Melania inadvertently cribbing from a particularly well-put speech by Michelle Obama, who got rave reviews for her words.

Melania, Trump jokes, gives the “exact same speech,” and every gets on her case. “And I don’t get it,” Trump jibes at himself. “I don’t know why.” At which point Trump gestures to Melania to take a bow. She gets up and flashes one of her patented megawatt smiles that manages also to be demure. The place erupts in warm, bi-partisan applause for what turned out to be the next first lady.

The warm appreciation for the joke is not surprising. Al Smith, is, after all, remembered, as he was known in his lifetime, as the Happy Warrior. His spirit, both cheerful and dignified, can be glimpsed in his official gubernatorial portrait (with a particularly well-popped nose, one of the marks of a well-painted portrait). Between 1916 and 1928 he served four two-year terms as governor, losing reelection only once.

Smith, a Democrat, stood for president in 1928. He was the first Catholic ever nominated. By our lights, the country would have been better off had he won. Among the metaphorical boulders in his way was arrant anti-Catholic bigotry. He had a hand in the building of the Empire State Building and  would go on to become a critic of the New Deal launched by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who’d succeeded Smith as governor. 

Issues dear to Catholics could yet sound at the ballot box. Pro-life values and religious liberty come to mind. Anti-Catholic sentiments still mar our politics, too. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the 7th Circuit was marred by Senator Feinstein’s complaint that “the dogma lives loudly in you.” The Little Sisters of the Poor had to go to the Supreme Court three times to get free of harassment by the Obama administration.        

The tradition of rivals coming together under the aegis of the archdiocese dates to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon yukking it up together at the Al Smith dinner in 1960. Americans love it when their leaders show a sense of humor. The last presidential hopeful to decline the white-tie invitation was Walter Mondale, in 1984. Let Ms. Harris remember how that turned out for him.