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that is only true if you consider abortion to be the only “life” issue.  There is also the question of an unjust war (and let’s face it, McCain is much more likely to expand the war into Iran than is Obama), the death penalty, and a few other issues that I’m sure are important to Catholics.

Personally, I don’t really count myself among the faithful anymore, so I can’t say for sure what is important to Catholic voters.  But, generally speaking, I am always amazed by single issue voters.

that is only true if you consider abortion to be the only “life” issue.”

No, it’s not the only “life” issue, but it is the elephant in the room that very few people want to address. I am not a single issue voter, but I am a hierarchical voter, and abortion is at the top of the list.

People may genuinely disagree as to whether Iraq is a just war or not, but abortion is always an evil. The two do not have the same weight. It is the same with the death penalty. These issues are a legitimate concern, but they pale in comparison to abortion. If you can’t get this one issue right, then you do not deserve my vote.

If all of the major candidates came out against abortion, then I would start to look at these secondary issues to evaluate a candidate for office.

I also think it is hard to come up with a values system that identifies abortion as a wrong but feels that the death toll in Iraq to date and even into the future is a greater wrong than a million abortions a year just in the U.S. in perpetuity.

Have I lost the plot or is someone imagining that a law can be passed that will actually succeed in preventing abortion *and* reduce the quantity of “evil” in the world?

I contend that no such law is realistic, even in theory, and that calling for prospective legislators to be judged on their positions regarding this canard is a mistake and a deflection of energy from the moral reflection that the issue requires.

To say that “serious catholics” can vote for Obama is a nonsense. I don’t have to worry about because I would not vote neither for Obama nor for McCain. A “serious catholic” should do one thing only: not to participate in the process.

The Archbishop’s position only makes sense, though, if you assume that 1) the putatively pro-life candidate is actually committed to ending abortion and 2) that candidate is also competent at achieving his/her policy goals.  Since Roe v. Wade, “pro-life” presidents have occupied the White House at least 20 years and nominated seven Supreme Court justices.  The “pro-life” party has controlled the Senate for 17 years, and the House for twelve of those years.  However, in that time little if any progress has been made in ending abortion and few if any lives have been saved.  The Chief Justice just appointed by one such pro-life president has called Roe v. Wade a “super-precedent”.  It seems reasonable to conclude that some nominally pro-life Republicans aren’t all that committed and/or the genuinely pro-life Republicans aren’t that good at achieving this policy goal.  But the archbishop suggests that Catholics take all such candidates at their word and assume their competence.

How many Down’s Syndrome children are there at your church?

Just wanted to let folks know that we added the four sentences to which the Archbishop refers, plus the following text, to the front page at http://www.romancatholicsforobama.com:

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*Archbishop Chaput’s full letter has always been linked from this page, but the quotation above was expanded by four sentences in response to concerns he expressed in his May 19 Denver Catholic Register column. We’ve urged since we launched the site that voting Catholics read all of the material posted or linked here, and we continue to do so.
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We also link to the May 19 column.

It’s rational for Catholics (besides a non-negotiable principle of the Catholic Faith) NOT TO VOTE IN THIS ELECTION.
Would be suicidal for Bishops to say that Catholics should support candidate X or candidate Y. For the faithfull the only response is abstention. I would make a post (In Spanish) in my blog.