Making the Catholic case for McCain

As I've noted in my writings about the Presidential race, my main question has been to determine whether or not it is acceptable for Catholics to vote for Barack Obama. I also have not missed opportunities to point out where John McCain fails to abide fully by Catholic social teaching.

SDG has a lengthy post at JA.O on the Catholic case for McCain, taking into consideration the objections raised about Obama, and weighing the prudence of voting for a third party (or not voting) instead:

"As I noted in my first post, some serious and thoughtful Catholics, including my friend Mark Shea and his sometime co-belligerent Zippy Catholic, have suggested or argued that to support and vote for a candidate who advocates any intrinsically immoral policy, even if the only other viable alternative is far worse, is objectively wrong. Thus, the argument goes, given McCain's support of embryonic stem-cell research, Catholics who support and vote for either major-party ticket, whatever their sincerity or their culpability may be, are engaged in objectively wrong behavior.

... However, to the extent that quixotic-vote advocates have been influenced by concerns over the alleged unjustifiability of voting for any candidate who supports any intrinsically immoral policy, even when the only other viable candidate is far worse, they have been led astray. Such concern is, I submit, unnecessary, unfounded and deeply unfortunate. Catholic moral theology does not support the scrupulous conclusion that one cannot support or vote for the candidate one regards as the least problematic viable candidate unless that candidate is free of all support for intrinsically evil policies."

He goes on to post a brief summary of his argument.