I voted for Cate's, just because it's a classic VF cover - classy, beautiful, glamorous. But God, what an awful year for the magazine. Not one but four memorial covers? (And not one but 3 Madoff-related "exposés" advertised on the covers?) They really need to inject some creativity into the process - Cate's may be a good example of a classic, by-the-book Vanity Fair cover looking great, but on the other hand you have Penelope's (all the same qualities as Cate's but just falls way off the mark)
Also, I actually kinda liked Jessica Simpson's from a purely visual point of view. It was quite interesting - but I fiercely object in principle to her even being near the society pages of the magazine let alone the cover so there's no way I would consider voting for it.