Can a Catholic support Barack Obama for president?

Recently, the conservative Catholic law professor Douglas A. Kmiec raised that question online at Slate — and he caught considerable flack for it from, most notably, Deal Hudson.

Kmiec decided to tackle the issue head-on, at Catholic Online. Here, he explains his misgivings about John McCain:

Part of my motivation for writing the original Slate essay was Catholic concern with Senator McCain’s pursuit of the war in Iraq. John Paul II made the Catholic position plain to President Bush before the United States invaded in 2003, and I suspect Pope Benedict will do the same upon his forthcoming visit.

Likewise, some of Senator McCain’s other public positions are troubling. For example, he is morally mistaken on stem-cell research, most particularly, his support for federal funding for research on ‘spare’ embryos.

So too, Senator McCain is on the more questionable side of the death penalty. I also noted that presently, in terms of Catholic teaching, Senator McCain has taken the wrong path on immigration, though in fairness to the Senator he changed his position from one in support of a reasoned immigration reform compatible with Catholic instruction on welcoming the stranger to his more recent and unfortunate advocacy for a border fence, which in my judgment, is just wrong by any measure, given its likely inutility and economic irrationality in light of the labor needs in the marketplace.

Finally, Senator McCain has not outlined persuasively a program to address the family wage, energy independence and the environment, though again, Senator McCain has helpfully avoided supporting special-interest agricultural subsidies for ethanol that are often disguised in pro-environment terminology.

Is Senator Obama better on these questions?

People I respect are suspicious, and I have doubts as well. My friends remind me that no matter how noble Senator Obama may be personally, the Democratic Party has become too enmeshed with a counter-cultural agenda that is antagonistic to the well-being of families.

Maybe.

But I know this, as a Christian I am neither left nor right, nor Democrat nor Republican axiomatically. John Paul II admonished us to understand that Catholics represent even something other than a “third way” between that which is liberal and conservative.

Catholic social teaching is simply true because it is based on the truth of the human person. As a loyal American who proudly served President Reagan and the first President Bush as their constitutional legal counsel and who wants the best for my nation at a time of great challenge, it is my intention to discern from thought and prayer, and not blind partisanship, what Catholic social teaching means when it is applied to the remaining candidates in this national campaign.

No amount of faux-Catholic blog intimidation should stand in my way – or yours.

There’s much, much more at the Catholic Online link, including his explanation for seriously considering, as a Catholic, supporting Obama. Check it out. With this staunchly pro-abortion senator from Illinois poised to win more and more of the Catholic vote in the primaries — and possibly in the general election — it’s a timely and challenging read.