The Catholic Cricket

Please pray for Amy Welborn and her family.  Her husband Michael Dubruiel passed away today.  They have a daughter and two sons.

I’ve participated in a discussion on What’s Wrong With the World that started out being about Embryonic Stem Cell Research (or, more to the point, how ESCR has disappeared as an issue in this election), but advanced to a discussion about voting and prudential judgment.

Before the comments were closed (it was an older post, with 130+ comments), I noted that there were several one-vote decisions that helped shape this country, and that there’s no way for us to know which time we vote could be “the one”.  Zippy Catholic responded with:

Not in the current presidential contest. Thinking that my vote is going to change the outcome of the current Presidential election in the age of mass market and mass media is like thinking that me buying one can of Pepsi will determine which soda, Pepsi or Coke, is the most popular. It is assuredly more efficacious for the rational man to pray for a miracle.

Now, I can understand such a pessimistic view of elections, but is he right?  (For the record, from what I’ve read, Zippy isn’t buying Coke or Pepsi, he’s going for RC Cola or maybe Jolt).

Now, in my comment at the above link, I noted the story (most likely a stretched version of the truth) of Freeman Clark leaving his deathbed to vote for Kelso for the Indiana state senate, who a year later pushed for Hannigan as one of Indiana’s US Senators, who a year later voted for Texas Statehood.  Kelso won by one vote (allegedly, Clark’s, who allegedly died on his way back to his deathbed), Hannigan won by one vote, and had Hannigan not voted for Texas Statehood, the US Senate vote would have been a tie.

But while Clark’s vote (Clark’s existence is really moot) was important, it was just one of however many Kelso got.  Had any of Kelso’s supporters stayed home, he might not have been elected to the state senate.  It wasn’t just Clark’s vote, it was every single vote that Keslo got that made the difference.

Now, all of those voting in the Indiana state election way back in 1844 (or whatever year it was…the places I’ve seen this story have variations…according to one site I saw, Kelso was a state senator from 1848-1849) had no idea that their votes, cumulatively, would make such a significant difference in the future of the country.

Coke and Pepsi aren’t successful because of mass-media and mass marketing, but because of millions of single votes.  One can boycott both Pepsi and Coke, and the companies will do fine, but boycotts work because of cumulative effect.  And voting works the same way.

Final thought, since it’s so late: I’m not impressed with the idea of voting third party, and I’m definitely not impressed with the idea of not voting at all.  Not voting is ridiculous, and voting third party is equally ridiculous, akin to Obama’s “Present” votes in Illinois.  Oh, I could understand going for a third party if the race was a blowout one way or the other.  But when the race is tight, and the stakes are as high as they are (especially for anyone coming from a pro-Life perspective), it’s utterly foolish to see one’s vote as meaningless.  If it means nothing, why are the candidates trying so hard to get it?

And, as if anyone needed me to state my position, I’m voting McCain.  While he’s wrong on ESCR, he’s right on just about every other Life issue.  I’d rather support a candidate who is 98% correct than deny him my support and let a completely wrong candidate win.  And that’s my prudential judgment.

With McCain, one can hope for (and lobby for) a change in his ESCR position.  The expectations one should have for Obama – well, one shouldn’t have any.  He would support more ESCR than McCain, in addition to signing FOCA, allow government-funded abortions, and everything else the Culture of Death advances.  I’ve started a post on this, and was planning on hitting several other topics on the election, but I don’t know if they’ll ever get posted.  Ahh well, living my life is more important than ranting and raving online anyway.