Ought Catholics to Vote Mitt?

The normally sane but for the last few months folks over at CatholicVote.org have recently declared that all Catholics OUGHT to vote for Mitt.  I must respond with a resounding: No.

Their reasoning?

"There are two, and only two, candidates with any chance of winning the presidency next Tuesday." 

To which I must respond that this will remain so until enough people get the cajones to stand up and vote third party. I won't go so far as to say that they OUGHT to vote third party, but we won't get better candidates until enough people do.

And the only thing that will ever change the "inevitability" is people calling the emperor on his new clothes. For the 2 party system to be bucked, people MUST start voting for a third party, and I for one can see no better time than this election, when the choices are between 1) a guy who forces Catholic organizations to dispense abortifacients and has argued repeatedly for the right to "choose", even running campaign ads this year that state he's in favor of this right . . . and 2) Barack Obama.

My honest feeling is that the only reason Mitt is "better" than Barack is that he's not screwed up as president yet, but he will. That being said, certainly one cannot vote Obama. In some states, voting Mitt may be the best option, and I'll always leave that to the formed conscience of that voter. I TOTALLY get the "go for the safe bet" and "even a baboon is better than Obama" type of arguments, but those are not -- for me -- enough to warrant my bet on Mitt.

I'd rather see the HHS mandate overturned RIGHTFULLY by the courts than by some "executive order", which only erodes more of the constitutional limits to the king's president's authority, and I still don't believe Mitt will do it.

Of course, Mitt winning was predicted by Moses.

Epilogue:

As a friend of mine wrote:

I have to say that if (when) Mitt loses, and quite possibly so with a majority popular vote, the Republicans will have no-one to blame but the electoral college. A very significant portion (dare I say greater than the magic 5%) could vote third party without jeopardizing coveted electoral votes. Again, I'll be a bit daring and say Catholics have been abandoned by both parties, the social justice camp went all "pro-choice" on us and the "pro-lifers" are selectively so (capital punishment, war) and would (have) absolutely turn(ed) their back on a fellow human in need. This all goes significantly beyond the realm of economic policies and constitutionality which, compared to the moral requirements of upright living, grants a wide berth of "permissible" actions/activities. It goes without saying that voting is a critical activity in our republic and should not be taken lightly. Each citizen in each state has a unique opportunity to use their voice to the greatest service of their conscience and country, a decision that should not be taken lightly.