lection day is upon us. But before you punch the ballot card, take a moment for recollection and discernment. The campaign road has been a long and arduous journey, and sadly, reaching the end of it feels not at all rewarding. Like many people, I find myself disappointed and uncertain about either candidate. Actually, I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth altogether.

What one candidate has is sorely lacking in the other, and vice-versa. I realize that no candidate is perfect. However, I also feel that no Catholic, in good conscience, can vote for Obama due to his extremist pro-abortion views (and they are extreme). Yet, McCain lacks any appreciable plan to address social justice concerns, which are central to the Church’s moral framework. Neither candidate has a consistent ethic on life. Sadly, neither party represents an ideology truly compatible with devout Catholicism.

So for whom do we vote? Is one candidate better than the other? Or is this a “damage-control” election?

To help us make these difficult decisions, I reference a few recent articles:

• My Personal “Faith Priorities” for This Election (Jim Wallis)
  

  In 2008, the kingdom of God is not on the ballot in any of the 50 states as far as I can see. So we can’t vote for that this year. But there are important choices in this year’s election — very important choices — which will dramatically impact what many in the religious community and outside of it call “the common good,” and the outcome could be very important, perhaps even more so than in many recent electoral contests. I am in no position to tell anyone what is “non-negotiable,” and neither is any bishop or megachurch pastor, but let me tell you the “faith priorities” and values I will be voting on this year.

• Be Not Afraid (Jim Wallis)
  

  In the final days of this election campaign, a new message has emerged. For the entire political year, the overriding theme has been change—with each candidate competing to be the real champion for a new direction. With 80 percent of Americans unhappy with our country’s current direction, it seemed that no other theme could break through. A new message has, and it is this: “Be Afraid— Be Very Afraid.”

• Christian Voters Need to Reorient, Not Disengage (Sondra Shepley)
  

  Ultimately, it is reorientation, not disengagement that we need. It is a call to conversion with the humble recognition that we engage powers and principalities of this world, both spiritual and physical, that will try to lure our deepest devotions. So, we stand at a new point in history clinging to our Savior’s promise: “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33).

• Voting as Damage Control (Shane Clairborne)
  

  One way to look at voting is that it is damage control -– not so much voting for something as it is voting against something worse. We must do everything we can to reduce the destruction done by the principalities and powers, and voting may be one way to do that. Being an agent of God’s kingdom, transformation means calling out the best that the state can do, and not expecting it to be our savior.

• Vote Your Conscience, Revisited (Amanda Shaw)
  

  “Vote your conscience” said a recent election message aimed at Catholic voters, and I’ve heard more than one objection. The number of believing Americans without a proper understanding of ethics and civic duty is, I’d venture to guess, devastatingly large, and the last thing these individuals need is affirmation in their (and the media’s) confusion. Among those who do have a sense of morality in public life, most are wrenched in multiple directions, struggling to perform a moral calculus that avoids any scent of one-issue proclivities. Conscience is a murky land, not the sort of place to make a firm decision./BLOCKQUOTE>

• How the Bishops Found Their Voice (Austin Ruse)
  

  What a difference four years make. In 2004 a small number of bishops publicly criticized the pro-abortion position of the Democrat running for president. This election year, they have grown to a large and lusty choir taking strong public stands against the pro-abortion politics of the Democratic ticket and their loudest supporters. Why such a difference from 2004 to now?

• The Democrats: The Party of the “Common Good”? (George Marlin)
  

  Democratic Party insiders know that they must persuade practicing Catholics to return to the party of their forefathers if they are to win the presidential election this November. To achieve that goal, the Democrats are throwing rhetorical crumbs to Catholics voters.

• The Strains of the Political Season (Hadley Arkes)
  

  In times of trouble, we invoke Fr. Richard Neuhaus’s summoning line, “We can still turn this around.” The thing to be turned around is the election, after it has already been turned around.

• Bracing for the Election (Hadley Arkes)
  

  It was the best of times and the worst of times - oops: change that. It’s the worst of times, in this election, and some of us find ourselves shaking our heads in disbelief.

• A Last-Minute Assessment (Michael Uhlmann)
  

  A large segment of the public are clearly nervous about Obama, as well they should be. Four years ago, he was an obscure Illinois state legislator of undistinguished achievement. Before that, he was a community organizer in South Chicago, which is not exactly a familiar job description or one that … sends a tingle up the leg of most voters. His three-year record in the Senate is likewise devoid of accomplishment, which is perhaps understandable inasmuch as he spent most of that time running for president. So what, precisely, are his qualifications?