This whole “Catholic vote” issue

is pointless. There’s no such thing as the Catholic vote; American Catholics

vote like everybody else. I think the bishops should chastise pro-choice

politicians for the good of the Church, not because I think it’s going to do

a bit of good in our politics. The kinds of Catholics who consider the

bishops to have any sway over their own moral decision-making are almost

certainly the kinds of Catholics who are so scrupulously observant that

they’ll vote pro-life anyway — which is to say, for Bush. I think the

bishops might make a difference for observant Catholics who’d like to vote

for Kerry, but who perhaps have a bad conscience over his extreme pro-choice

position. If they gave Kerry any kind of pass, that would help — but

honestly, how many of those kinds of Catholics are there, anyway?

And then there’s what I call the “Mote-Plank Factor,” which the invaluable

Diogenes over at the Catholic World News blog discusses here.