Carol Porter, try this response when asked again: It should be a woman's choice, & definitely not mine unless it happened to be me or a family member.

Carol Porter, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

Jim Galloway of the AJC's Political Insider reports that when asked if she’s pro-life or pro-choice, Carol Porter picks none-of-the-above.

Mr. Galloway writes:

As the weekend broke, Democratic candidate for governor DuBose Porter let it be known that he should be considered “pro-life” when it comes to the issue of abortion.

But the House minority leader from Dublin is only one half of a political couple on the July 20 primary ballot. There remained the question of how the husband’s point of view would reflect on Carol Porter, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

On Monday morning, we asked the Carol Porter campaign whether she supported a woman’s right to an abortion.

On Tuesday, a long explanation, penned by the candidate herself, arrived via e-mail. The brief essay said many things, and even came with a footnote. But it did not answer the question.

And in a phone conversation, Carol Porter declared that hers was not just a temporary evasion.

“I’m sorry, I’m not getting labeled on it. It’s a difficult issue for everybody in this state,” the Democratic candidate said.

Likewise, she declined to say what she thought about embryonic stem cell research – a large issue at UGA.

Carol, below is a suggested response for you to use in future interviews when asked about your views on abortion (this ties in some with your answers to Jim). It is imperative that you get a basic position out there that does not include nuancing or your women voters might stay home in November. Try this:

"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 now we are close to pro-choice being a litmus test for our party.

"I am pro-choice not because I am a Democrat, but because I think it should be a woman's choice, and definitely not mine unless it happened to be me or a family member."

And then if you want to say more, you can use President Clinton's "safe, legal and rare" comment by saying:

"But what if someone has religious convictions different from me; do we not have room in the party for such person?

"As we reach out to fellow religious voters, we should quit arguing the legality of abortion, and rather shift the theme to abortion should be 'safe, legal and rare.'

"And just as we 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."

(The above comes from a post of mine that reflected my being male and a husband and a father that noted: "I am pro-choice not because I am a Democrat, but because I think it should be a woman's choice, and definitely not mine unless it happened to be my wife or daughter."

The post is a 7-24-05 post entitled "Gov. Howard Dean on Meet the Press last Dec.: 'I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats.'")