The GOP's Lesson on Abortion. - Why it is so hard for Dems to learn that a little open-mindedness is not onlynot only a virtue but also a necessity.
Excerpts from:
The GOP's Lesson on Abortion
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.
The Washington Post
March 12, 2005
Why are George W. Bush and his party so skillful in dealing with the abortion issue, and why are Democrats so clumsy?
It turns out that Democrats willing to grapple seriously with these questions risk getting seriously trashed. It makes you wonder whether Democrats enjoy losing elections.
First, let's look at Bush's mastery. He warms the hearts of abortion's staunchest foes by appointing conservative judges and invoking the code words "a culture of life." But he rarely gets directly crosswise with supporters of abortion rights by explicitly calling for an end to abortion.
In the third debate last fall, John Kerry noted that while he would "not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade, the president has never said whether or not he would do that." In a 220-word reply, Bush never mentioned Roe and made a point of stressing, "I understand there's great differences on this issue of abortion." That's how Bush managed to win 38 percent of voters who told exit pollsters last year that they thought abortion should be "mostly legal."
More than that, the Republican Party has been utterly realistic, indeed ruthless, in engineering the nomination of pro-choice candidates if they had the better chance of winning. The amazing thing is that some of the staunchest opponents of abortion went right along and sidetracked allies if that was what victory required.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, is . . . . the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, [and] his job is to elect more Democrats. He's ruffled some feathers by thinking the way Karl Rove does, searching for the strongest Democratic candidate in a contested state and trying to prevent divisive primaries.
Karl Rove must be grinning about all this. By managing the abortion issue with considerable cunning, Republicans are winning the power to stack the courts with the very sorts of conservative judges the pro-choice movement fears. You have to wonder why it is so hard for so many Democrats to learn that a little open-mindedness on a very difficult question is not only a virtue but also a necessity.
The GOP's Lesson on Abortion
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.
The Washington Post
March 12, 2005
Why are George W. Bush and his party so skillful in dealing with the abortion issue, and why are Democrats so clumsy?
It turns out that Democrats willing to grapple seriously with these questions risk getting seriously trashed. It makes you wonder whether Democrats enjoy losing elections.
First, let's look at Bush's mastery. He warms the hearts of abortion's staunchest foes by appointing conservative judges and invoking the code words "a culture of life." But he rarely gets directly crosswise with supporters of abortion rights by explicitly calling for an end to abortion.
In the third debate last fall, John Kerry noted that while he would "not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade, the president has never said whether or not he would do that." In a 220-word reply, Bush never mentioned Roe and made a point of stressing, "I understand there's great differences on this issue of abortion." That's how Bush managed to win 38 percent of voters who told exit pollsters last year that they thought abortion should be "mostly legal."
More than that, the Republican Party has been utterly realistic, indeed ruthless, in engineering the nomination of pro-choice candidates if they had the better chance of winning. The amazing thing is that some of the staunchest opponents of abortion went right along and sidetracked allies if that was what victory required.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, is . . . . the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, [and] his job is to elect more Democrats. He's ruffled some feathers by thinking the way Karl Rove does, searching for the strongest Democratic candidate in a contested state and trying to prevent divisive primaries.
Karl Rove must be grinning about all this. By managing the abortion issue with considerable cunning, Republicans are winning the power to stack the courts with the very sorts of conservative judges the pro-choice movement fears. You have to wonder why it is so hard for so many Democrats to learn that a little open-mindedness on a very difficult question is not only a virtue but also a necessity.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 9:13 AM
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