Some Observations on Being a Democrat -- Part II

Yesterday I made some comments on a post entitled "Being a Democrat" on the blog Blog for Democracy. This morning I got an email suggesting that I should post my comments on this blog. I made 3 comments, and will do 3 edited posts, the second being:

I approve of the way in which our party this year reached out to voters who oppose abortion rights and promoted candidates who share that view, and in the process began to change our party's approach in the debate over abortion.

Last year the Blog for Democracy's hero -- and I did not say my own -- said:

"I think we need to talk about this issue differently. The Republicans have painted us as a pro-abortion party. I don't know anybody in America who is pro-abortion.

"We do have to have a big tent. I do think we need to welcome pro-life Democrats into this party," said Howard Dean.

I for one am pleased that we followed Gov. Dean's advice, and if we will stay the course, it will allow us to return to our former status as the big tent party.

I used to find it inappropriate -- given all of the issues out there -- that being pro-life was a litmus test for the GOP. But without question -- prior to this election -- we were close to pro-choice being a litmus test for our party.

And just as we extended our welcome in this important area, I am also pleased we reached out to fellow religious voters, and in effect said without making it an issue, we need to quit arguing the legality of abortion, and rather shift the theme to what President Clinton said, that is, that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare."

And just as we all want to see fewer abortions, we want our children to learn good values -- at home, in school, at Sunday school and at church with their parents.

Good values, health care, jobs and sex education can reduce the number of abortion procedures, and who can be opposed to that.