I am simply Catholic. Not a Democrat. Not a Republican. This election has my brain 
in a twist. On one hand, I can’t vote for Obama. He has jumped the shark on abortion and freedom of religion. On the other hand I am not comfortable with voting for the may be slightly better Romney.
So do I hold my nose, vote for Romney, and hope for the best? Or do I write in a candidate?
The Vice presidential debate was not helpful. Catholic Biden was condescending and patronizing. His “I am personally apposed to abortion but..” stance is as old as it is wrong. Ryan was not much better as a Catholic. According to him Abortion is just fine in certain circumstances. So much for the inherent dignity of human life.
I have (maybe) decided to vote for Mr. Not Obama because:
1. If he ousts Obama, the press will without a doubt stop being cheerleaders for the president no matter what he does. Accountability Yea! Oh and maybe somebody in the MSM will speak out about the administration’s kill list and drones.
2. The war protesters will return. Yea I know they were really protesting Bush. Still someone needs to be questioning the war in Iraq.
3. It is just down to voting for the guy who will do the least harm. The not Obama Candidate is, in my opinion, that guy.
But I am convinced neither candidate cares about ordinary Americans. They live in their own little elite bubble. Romney and Obama think that they are our betters.
That is why I put my trust in Jesus not earthly princes.
Lord have mercy.
“So do I hold my nose, vote for Romney, and hope for the best? Or do I write in a candidate?
Your question is very kool, and I actually have a fairly well formed opinion of it. I read your blog entry on WordPress Reader, and then lost it as I scrolled past it. I then took a shower, and wanted to reply so much that I spent some time searching it out again.
I have the same issues you have. I call it, vote for the Nanny state or the Police state. Neither one really cares about the Constitution nor liberty. After much thinking and a little praying here is what I have come up with. If you live in state where your vote does not matter, like Idaho or California, we will vote for a protest vote. I am looking over my ballot, which I have in front of me at the moment and I see, American Independent, Libertarian, Green, Americans Elect and Peace and Freedom. I am now reviewing each and see if I can vote for any of them. If not I will write in my Priest’s name for President.
Now you have a much harder decision as you live in a state where your vote actually matters. Our nation is so large and so polarized that the vast majority of us have taxation without representation because our vote really doesn’t matter. However, not you!
“Despite a substantial population of conservative evangelical Christian voters, Iowans have voted for the Democratic candidate in five of the last six presidential elections, including twice for Bill Clinton (1992, 1996), for Al Gore (2000), and for Barack Obama (2008).”
In Iowa (I assume you are living in Iowa) your vote matters! All I can say is pray, pray hard and then pull the lever for whoever you feel. Good people, living in bad times, sometimes have to do bad things for good reasons. And this includes voting. I would suggest we focus on the Senate and put in the most anti-government Tea Party people we can. If we can grab the Senate, then every thing comes to a halt, even if we loose the Presidency. That too me is so important, and Senators seem to stick around _forever_.
One reason to vote for the Police State (this time around) is what I call the the rookies curse. By putting in a _new_ bunch of anti-liberty people it will take them _time_ to figure out how to make our lives harder. Thus we live a little freer until they do.
Let us outside the states that matter make the protest vote, you inside the states that matter, pray hard, and vote your faith.
Alex Bard of the American Redoubt
http://charlescarrollsociety.com/
Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have.
I stumbled on your blog when researching St. Andre Bassette. My husband, Christopher Ruff, is the director of Deaconate formation here in the Diocese of La Crosse, WI. We’re practically neighbors! We just celebrated the ordination of nine new permanent deacons two weeks ago!!
I am coordinating a day of recollection and prayer on November 17th here in La Crosse and thought somehow, I should let you know the details….otherwise…WHY would I have “just stumbled” onto your blog as I was working on this project!
Our Cathedral is celebrating it’s 150 anniversary of Dedication this year and we are hosting
devotions to help the faithful grow in their understanding and appreciation of St. Joseph, our patron. So, we have a day devoted to St. Andre Bassette planned with a movie, holy hour and Mass celebrated by our Bishop at the 5:10 evening Mass that Saturday.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is only 12-15 minutes away, too, if some wanted to come and make a pilgrimage to the Shrine………….nice to connect with you, via your blog. Many have told me to start a similar project……how did you do it? I write quite a bit, but never got around to blogging!
God be near to you, these days, and have MERCY on our country!
I agree with your vote but I do trust Romney much more than Obama. Romney seems to parallel my values even though he is not a Christian, but a Morman. He values persons and family. I’ve been impressed with the decency of the ads that he has run showing heroic efforts and virtue. Personally, I don’t think a Catholic can vote for anyone who supports intrinsic evil, such as abortion. 55 million children killed in 39 years (that are recorded anyway). 55 million. I researched the total number of casualties in ALL of US wars from the time of the Revolutionary War to the Spanish American and French Indian and Civil War and all to the present date….and the total of our US soldiers killed in battle equals 1.4 million TOTAL. That is the number legally killed each year in our country, not of men armed with weapons to fight, but tiny helpless infants in the supposed safe haven of their mother’s womb. Our newest battlefield is the mother’s womb! 55 million is a lot of people, children! The hearts of the just should use everything in their power to vote against such evil. Slavery was once legal in our country, too. Just because a law is created doesn’t make an act morally right. I wonder which side of history folks want to stand with? Some day, it will be made clear what we’ve done to our defenseless fellow citizens!
God bless America!