Several candidates, from both the Republican and Democratic parties, have thrown their hats into the ring to run for the office of President of the United States in 2008.

I already have my own thoughts on who to support, but want to hold off to allow objective analyses and to allow discourse with other Catholics for Democracy leaders to weigh in; that way I know whether to announce who I support as a personal announcement or whether I can announce the candidate as one with CFD support.

In the meantime, I have taken up a special prayer for the upcoming Presidential election; to help assure the Holy Spirit guides the election: the Divine Mercy Chaplet

Those who know my participation in this forum already know I pray parts of the Liturgy of the Hours daily; an online version of the liturgy is available in the foot of this website. That is not enough, though. We, as a nation, have committed some serious sins and have a lot to atone for if we are to contribute to the Divine Plan of establishing Christ's peace on earth. We need, collectively, to atone for our sins. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours is not enough, then; especially if I/we am/are already praying it.

The Republican message on Democrats as the Republicans hope to retain control of Congress, "The Democrats offer criticism, but they have no plan to succeed in the 'war on terror'."

That is easy and culpable rhetoric coming from the party that absolutely controls Federal government and the government's messaging.

Many people, Democrat, Green Party, independent, even Republican, and otherwise have opposed the war in Iraq as immoral. Many leaders from the Vatican -- including Pople John Paul II and our current Pope Benedict XVI -- have challenged this war under Just War theology.

The truth is we do not need an exit strategy from Iraq other than empowering the government of the people we are at war with; something our current Adminstration and its compliant Congress does not seem to be willing to do. But, then, we seem to have a government invested in disempowering the very people on whose behalf they govern. So, in those terms, that makes sense.

Not since the 2004 Presidential campaign have members of Catholics for Democracy had an opportunity to witness a candidacy worth getting really excited about. That is not to say candidates haven't approached us. A number of candidates from across the country this year, in fact, have approached the Catholics for Democracy community for our support.

Supporting any particular candidate at all is a risky endeavor. So many assumptions about a group's values ride on endorsements the group chooses to make. The particular risk, here, is the potential for a perceived loss of objectivity or credibility in evaluating the values exercised by government and by those who seek elected positions in government.

Sometimes that risk is worth taking, though; especially when a candidate comes onto the political radar with a firm set of values in place.

We at Catholics for Democracy are really excited to highlight the candidacy of Victoria Brooks who is running for Floyd County Commissioner Post Seat 4 in Floyd County, Georgia.

In 1971, as a Defense Department Official and Vietnam Vet, he "released" 7,000 pages of Nixon's secret war plans, "The Pentagon Papers", to The New York Times. Placing him at the top of Nixon's "Enemies List" and having Henry Kissinger call him "The most dangerous man in the world."

Congress shall make no law

Don't take my word for it (Vote-Smart.org survey, other useful links for evaluating politicians), but I think Rep. Oberstar is the most impressive member of Congress I have seen yet. Have you heard about him before? What else should we know about him?

As far as I can tell, Congressman Oberstar is:

• Pro-life, which means anti-abortion, anti-death penalty, and against unjust war
• For a preferential option for the poor, resolutely opposing immoral budget priorities that take from those in greatest need to give to the wealthy and fund new weapons and space missions
• For a living family wage, which means for a minimum wage increase, strongly for low-income tax credit increases, for increased job training funding, for increased child care assistance, and universal health coverage
• Pro-family, that is, for flex-time scheduling so spouses can schedule work around family

From my brief look at his positions and record, Rep. Tim Ryan appears to be a very strong candidate for our endorsement.

Have a look at his issue positions at Project Vote Smart and his campaign web site and share any other useful sources you come across. What do you like and dislike?

Make reference to Catholic Social Teaching whenever you can.

Check out Chris Smith's profile at Catholics in the Public Square, a site which explicitly chooses not to discuss issues not related to abortion or homosexuals. See my comments for a fuller picture of Rep. Smith's fairly consistent Catholic record (excerpted from his Vote-Smart survey response). He has some serious shortcomings, which I did not bother to highlight at this time, but his record seems rather impressive from the perspective of Catholic teaching.

Should Catholics for Democracy support him in future elections? Please tell us what you know about him and what you think!

In my brief glance at his record, it almost seemed that his votes turned more conservative (in cases in which that meant opposing the Catholic position) near elections. If we decide to support him, we could hel

The Hill reports that some Catholic Democrats in Congress are developing a scorecard to rank adherence to Catholic political positions as articulated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

While it is wrong to consider all issues as having equal importance and it is important to keep in mind that this scorecard has been designed by Democrats and may be tilted slightly in their favor by leaving out issues like school vouchers, this is a very welcome step toward increasing awareness that Catholic teaching pertains to more than two or three issues.
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