THE IRON LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES:

David Keane, of the American Conservative Union, is on the Diane Rehm Show, and he just revealed something fascinating. He and some other leading conservatives offered to come to NH this weekend to stump for John Sununu and make it clear that the pro-life movement backed him fully, despite Bob Smith's petulance. But, Mr. Keane says they were told that they would not be needed because NARAL had made a big push in the state and was driving pro-lifers back home to support Sununu.

Anecdotally I can report that we got frequent calls from women's groups (or the Shaheen campaign) asking if we were aware that Mr. Sununu opposed "a woman's right to choose". The seeming assumption behind the calls was that we'd run screaming into the street with our pitchforks to hunt Mr. Sununu down and burn him at the stake. It seemed an odd series of calls to be making to a registered Republican household.

Actually, it seems and odd series of call to direct toward any but Registered Democrats. The terrain on the abortion issue has shifted drastically in recent years, with huge majorities supporting restrictions on the procedure. This Gallup poll, from earlier this year, portrays an America that is experiencing extreme discomfort with abortion as a "right". It suggests that another of the items that is central to what remains of the Democrats' agenda may now be doing them more harm than good. In today's politics it is increasingly the pro-choicers who must be seen as the extremists, a marginalized 30%.