I want to point something out, for the benefit of those who want to try and understand the position of those of us who are Catholic in this thread ...

We are bound by conscience not to support candidates who advocate grave evil. Obama advocates grave evil. Now, it is also true that supporting McCain is also problematic for the same reason. McCain is for ESCR and supports a questionably just war and advocates the grave evil of abortion in the "exceptions cases". I say "questionably just" on the war because a Catholic can rationalize Iraq as a just war -- lots of Catholics with many letters after their names have done an admirable job of making that case. Others with similarly long letters after their names have made the opposite case -- nuanced cases I might add. On the surface both of the major party candidates are out.

This is where the nuance of proportionality enters the equation. As Catholics are not single issue voters, considering other policies like the war, creeping socialism (which the Church opposes on the grounds that it interferes with the right to make a living and right to raise a family as you see fit), the sanctity of marriage, and social justice are to be considered. For a full treatment of the whole mess you could read the 40+ page document on Faithful Citizenship issued by the USCCB.

Most Catholics I know who understand this particular nuance of Catholic doctrine realize that the proportionate reason to support Obama would require policies resulting in a DRASTIC reduction in the number of abortions. I think Obama's economic policies even if they were vastly superior are unlikely to reduce abortions by a "proprotional" amount. Now, that said, if Roe were to be overturned that returns the issue to the states and the majority of abortions occur in states that would continue to keep it legal after the overturning of Roe. That, to me, gives cause to reduce the proportionality but not by much. I am sure the Democrats have curiously watched since 1973 as election after election support from Catholics has shifted to the Republicans in 2004. There is a very predicable reason for this. No policy in Obama's platform unless it changes to include full implementation of the ideas suggested by Democrats for Life comes even close to justifying the killing of millions of unborn children a year. Its safe to say that I think the majority of orthodox Catholics will most likely vote for McCain (with a much held nose) or a third party candidate.

This brings me to the third party issue ... Others, to clear their conscience in the matter vote for candidates who do not support grave evil (Ron Paul being a prime example) .. The idea here is that you believe that casting your vote this way does two things: 1) gives notice to Republicans who have been "more talk than action" in their support for life issues and 2) serves to support a rising party, however unlikely, that is more favorable to the entire corpus of Catholic social doctrine. The debates in the Catholic world have been informative and enlightening

Of course orthodoxy and the majority of those in the pew are rarely on the same page. In the end, I suspect Catholics will mirror the nation on this election as I think the Republicans shot themselves in the foot with the McCain selection in terms of the Catholic vote. Huckabee or Ron Paul would have been vastly superior choices on that front. I personally suspect Obama will win. An Obama win requires praying for a marked change of heart for Senator Obama regarding the value and dignity of human life.

William

P.S. (family member), of course further from a Catholic perspective, contraceptive solutions are off the table because they gravely injure the procreative aspect of marriage -- but that is a different discussion than abortion as it applies to this election. The whole is deal is covered in Humanae Vitae if you are really interested in the why behind that case.