Blogger RWR Nails It

A few days ago I posted a blog about the politics of the Papacy. In a comment, RightWingRocker suggested any speculation be taken with a grain of salt due to the gag order placed by John Paul II.

Now an AP article confirms this.

Italians, with 20 cardinals, are the biggest national bloc of the 115 voting
churchmen. But the newspaper's Vatican expert, Marco Politi, wrote that the
Italians, whose 455-year-old hold on the papacy was broken by John Paul II's
election, were divided, and there was no European or Third World candidate who
had captured the prelates' imaginations. Voting cardinals decided days ago not
to give interview before the vote, and it was not clear what La Repubblica's
assessment was based on.

As RWR said, pure speculation.

Just an observation