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Democrats divided over rethink on abortion
The Democratic party, shaken by its loss on "moral values" in last November's elections, has embarked on a rethink of its approach to the core issue of abortion rights.
Two of the leading candidates for the leadership of the Democratic national committee on February 12 have called on the party to embrace opponents of abortion - an idea that would once have been unthinkable in an organisation where the right to choose is sacrosanct.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, with an eye to her potential candidacy in 2008, also joined the debate this week, telling a largely pro-choice crowd she sought "common ground" on America's most divisive issue.
"We can all recognise that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic, choice to many, many women," Senator Clinton told a rally marking the 32nd anniversary of the supreme court decision legalising abortion.
Ann Lewis, an aide to Ms Clinton who was until recently the director of the DNC women's vote centre, insisted the senator remained staunchly pro-choice: "There is no reason to think that talking about moral values is synonymous with overturning the supreme court decision."
But it is impossible to ignore the impetus for the Democrats' soul-searching: exit polls from last November's election found that 22% of voters had been swayed by "moral values".
The discovery comes at a time when supporters of abortion rights are already feeling under siege, with the religious right chalking up a number of victories in the first four years of the Bush administration.
The very idea of a rethink has outraged powerful women's organisations within the Democratic establishment. They argue that John Kerry's failure to make his case on national security or the economy played a far larger role in the Democrats' defeat.
But several prominent Democrats have calledon the party to recast its approach. The new Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, is opposed to abortion, although he has said he will not challenge party doctrine.
In next month's DNC contest, Tim Roemer, a anti-abortion former congressman from Indiana, and Howard Dean, the former presidential hopeful, have already put abortion on the agenda.
"I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats," Mr Dean told NBC television.
Other party activists say it is time for Democrats to catch up with changes since the supreme court decision.
"The kind of moral and ethical frame we put on the issue is not necessarily the same thing as changing our position as to whether or not abortion should be legal," said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice.
She argues that the Democrats' almost reflexive support for the "women's right to choose" fails to acknowledge the complex changes since the supreme court decision.
Three decades on, most American women have no memory of the pre-pill days, when there was only limited access to reliable contraception, and deadly backstreet abortions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1399439,00.html
Hillary Rodham Clinton, with an eye to her potential candidacy in 2008, also joined the debate this week, telling a largely pro-choice crowd she sought "common ground" on America's most divisive issue.
"We can all recognise that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic, choice to many, many women," Senator Clinton told a rally marking the 32nd anniversary of the supreme court decision legalising abortion.
Ann Lewis, an aide to Ms Clinton who was until recently the director of the DNC women's vote centre, insisted the senator remained staunchly pro-choice: "There is no reason to think that talking about moral values is synonymous with overturning the supreme court decision."
But it is impossible to ignore the impetus for the Democrats' soul-searching: exit polls from last November's election found that 22% of voters had been swayed by "moral values".
The discovery comes at a time when supporters of abortion rights are already feeling under siege, with the religious right chalking up a number of victories in the first four years of the Bush administration.
The very idea of a rethink has outraged powerful women's organisations within the Democratic establishment. They argue that John Kerry's failure to make his case on national security or the economy played a far larger role in the Democrats' defeat.
But several prominent Democrats have calledon the party to recast its approach. The new Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada, is opposed to abortion, although he has said he will not challenge party doctrine.
In next month's DNC contest, Tim Roemer, a anti-abortion former congressman from Indiana, and Howard Dean, the former presidential hopeful, have already put abortion on the agenda.
"I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats," Mr Dean told NBC television.
Other party activists say it is time for Democrats to catch up with changes since the supreme court decision.
"The kind of moral and ethical frame we put on the issue is not necessarily the same thing as changing our position as to whether or not abortion should be legal," said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice.
She argues that the Democrats' almost reflexive support for the "women's right to choose" fails to acknowledge the complex changes since the supreme court decision.
Three decades on, most American women have no memory of the pre-pill days, when there was only limited access to reliable contraception, and deadly backstreet abortions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1399439,00.html
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http://slate.msn.com/id/2112712/
leaving "liberal" Democrats to safely harvest money in blue states over issues that has been permanently resolved with an anti-abortion, anti-gay rights majority
yes, the Democrats will "win" the issue, in exactly the same way that they "won" the civil rights issue prior to the 1960s, where a combination of conservative Democrats and Republicans stalled civil rights legislation
the Democrats have already abandoned peaceniks, labor and civil rights activists, now they are laying the groundwork for abandoning gay rights advocates, and one of the strongest, most ardent group of supporters, feminists
it is telling that Democrats are proceeding down this road despite the puncturing of the "moral values" hysteria balloon that emerged right after the election
subsequent reports indicated that voters selected "moral values" as a critical issue in the 2004 presidential election to a lesser extent than they did in either the 1996 and 2000 ones
so, it is evident that the Democrats are going down this road as a matter of policy, of, no pun intended, choice, as it were, not as a matter of necessity, which was indirectly exposed with the enthusiasm of those Democrats like Feinstein who couldn't wait to blame gay rights for the loss of the election
indeed, it looked like the whole thing had been staged, prepared in advance as a justification for Kerry's possible defeat in a close election, by conservative DLC types
Democrats want power, and they are trapped in a position of bipartisan support for much of the Bush agenda, especially the war in Iraq, so they are in the process of finding scapegoats, and women and gays and lesbians have historically always been good candidates, now that they seem to have exhausted the ones of color
of course, the tragedy here is that younger voters are much more in tone with precisely those "moral values" of support for abortion and gay rights that the Democrats are so eager to abandon, leaving these people alienated and adrift, when they could be bonded to the party for the indefinite future
Schwarzenegger knows better, which is why he is very public about his rejection of Christian fundamentalist values
with this approach, expect a Jeb Bush blowout in 2008
--Richard Estes
yep, liberals open their check-books to the Democrats and all they get is shitted upon, proving, once again, that liberals are some of the most feckless humans ever.