Why Not Kerry?

I have a lot of friends who identify with the Democratic Party so completely that they can't imagine voting Republican or Independent. Even though they claim to be pro-life, they so despise President Bush (and, in fact, all things Republican) and could never be persuaded to vote for his re-election. In fact, the "good Catholics" who are also dyed-in-the-wool Democrats say they'll vote for Kerry for one of four reasons:

(1) He's the lesser of two evils.
(2) Bush's record on social justice issues is just as bad as Kerry's on abortion.
(3) Bush is pro-death penalty, which the Church is against also.
(4) Even if they don't particularly like Kerry, it's a vote against Bush.

Which leaves me with a dilemma: how to convince them that, no matter how poorly they think of Bush, that voting for Kerry is not a choice they can make as Catholics.

Now our work is clealy cut out for us. We have to convince people by speaking out clearly that:

(1) We are NEVER allowed to choose one "evil" over another. That is not a possibility for a Catholic Christian. "Do the good, avoid the evil," is the apostolic exhortation.

(2) While people might legitimately feel that Bush (and Republicans in general) are not as interested in the 'social gospel,' it is a stretch to say that he and his party are out to kill poor people (although Carville-clones have gone there!). One would have to seriously believe that Bush intended the death of poor people to legitimately equate a deficit here with Kerry's support for abortion.

(3) The death penalty issue is extremely confusing to the average person. The truth is this: that while the Church has always and everywhere taught that the state has the legitimate right to utilize the death penalty as appropriate punishment for crimes AND to ensure the public safety, the Pope's latest pronouncements on capital punishment have focused only on it as it has been used to safeguard the public. Two thousand years of tradition regarding its punitive value are ignored in the current debate. Additionally, there is no way to equate several (less than 100) deaths per year of convicted criminals with the wholesale slaughter of 1.5 million unborn children each year in these United States. To equate Bush's support for the death penalty with Kerry's support for abortion is fatuous.

(4) This is where the rubber meets the road, folks. Here is where I think we have the clearest ability to make a point. Votes are always, always, always FOR one candidate, not AGAINST another. A vote against a candidate is actually not voting for him/her!

Thus, we could argue as follows: "If you despise President Bush and/or feel that he is not a fit president AND you recognize that Kerry's support for abortion makes him ineligible for elective office, then you must refrain from voting (if these two are the only candidates). While you might feel that this would guarantee the re-election of President Bush -- which you oppose -- the wholesale abstention of Catholic voters would send a clear and unequivocal message to both parties, that the direction they are taking is unacceptable! Even if Bush were re-elected because of such abstention, you would have no guilt in any actions he takes, since you refused to vote for him. But you also would avoid any guilt associated with Kerry's furthering the pro-abortion groups he supports so strongly. In fact, the only non-sinful option open to you (feeling as you do about Bush) is to abstain from voting in this election and working within your political party for better representation at the next election."

What do you think?