Election '08: A Moot Point?

So, it seems a little late into the game to be posting something about the election.  All of the pundits (conservatives included) are calling this contest early.  The pressing question now will be whether it'll be a landslide or not.  (New York's illustrious Senatro Chuck Schumer is predicting 300+)

Still, I would like to offer some thoughts on this election and share some thoughts from my betters.

I guess what I offer is the content of an email I sent to Francis that kicked started his own post on the subject (as well as an interesting Facebook discussion on these matters).  Later in the week I will try to offer some more thoughts.  Here is what I wrote to Francis:

Steve, I am having a lot of trouble with the election. I tend to agree with MacIntyre, actually. What do you think of this article?

francis

I don't vote for a candidate based on his pro-life stance. I find it a worrisome reason, since in the end, I end voting just for or against abortion. War, capital punishment, the treatment of immigrants, these things are all ignored. People always bring up the sheer number of children killed in abortion and use that to justify the fact that it is more morally imperative than any other anti-life position. Honestly, this is not a Catholic moral argument. What is one life or one million in front of the infinite? In the end, we don't respect the dignity of a lot of human lives, but EACH human life. That's a 1:1 ratio. Abortion is not going to be erradicated in this country because of a fiat of law or judicial decision. It existed when it was illegal. The 'fight' against abortion is not done at the juridical or legislative levels. As a proponent of the principle of subsidiarity, I think this is best dealt with at the most local level, where I actually know and meet pregnant women and can provide them with resources, locally, to help them. The locus of change on an issue as fundamental as the dignity of a human life is not done at the federal level with an abstract notion of fetal rights, rather it is born from a human relationship with another, a mother who in the relationship with me, folloing That being said, I do not generally support candidates who support abortion.

For me, character and personal integrity are more important in a politician than any of the thousands of things they say they will or will not do. I do not think that we elect policies, we elect people (this is why I could never be a Democrat). We have often elected men with thin resume's who have gone on to be excellent leaders: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan. I look for a candidate who is less prone to ideology, and more prone to seeking a just and responsible solution to practical problems. I want a realist. In particular, I want a realist who has demonstrated courage, character, and integrity and seems to value what I value in life. If not Christ, than at least a concern and passion for man fully alive. In this sense I want a candidate who will allow the human person to flourish not force him into an ideologically predetermined category.

Ultimately, I reject MacIntyre's position. In order for me to side with MacIntyre, I would need to conclude that the American experiment was rotten from its core. That is, that there is something fundamentally flawed with a two-party political system and the current expression of such is the natural fruit of it. Instead, I think that the current dilemma is a corruption of an ideal that is valuable. This two-party system, I believe, is the reason for the general stability that we have seen in our political system, which (despite the neysaying) seems to have a long future ahead of itself. Since I am a realist, I recognize that reality as it is presented to me is good and has a value that I am invited to engage in. I think MacIntyre's position is fundamentally ideological, which he has no problem with (he's not a realist, and never has claimed to be) and he may, in the end, prove to be right. However, I think it is ultimately an attempt to escape the dirty and messy world that we are called to participate in with all of our humanity. I desire the political system to value what he wants it to value AND I want it to succeed.

For these reasons I will vote and cast that vote for McCain-Palin. I'm not voting against Obama. I don't think he'd be a horrible president. I am voting for the candidate who I think will most likely encourage and foster freedom for the family, the freedom to educate, and encourage subsidiarity and solidarity as the primary approach to social and cultural problems that we face.

-Stephen

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