December 24, 2004
TRUST THE PEOPLE:
Democrats Weigh De-emphasizing Abortion as an Issue (ADAM NAGOURNEY, 12/24/04, NY Times)
On abortion, Democrats said they were particularly frustrated that Republicans portrayed them as out of step on the issue during the campaign, noting that polls show a majority of Americans support at least some access to legal abortion."All these issues that put us into the extreme and not the mainstream really hurt us with the heartland of the country," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic Party leader who managed Al Gore's campaign in 2000. "Even I have trouble explaining to my family that we are not about killing babies."
Howard Dean, campaigning two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla., to succeed Terry McAuliffe as Democratic national chairman, drew nods of approval from Democratic state party leaders when he urged the party to embrace Democrats who oppose abortion.
"We ought not turn our back on pro-life people, even though the vast majority of people in this party are pro-choice," Dr. Dean said. "I don't have any objection to someone who is pro-life, if they really dedicated to the welfare of children."
"If somebody is willing to stick with us who is pro-life, that means they are the right kind of pro-life person," said Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont. "What I don't want to do is to have a national message that makes it impossible for you to be a conservative, or to be a progressive who can't win."
And Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said Republicans had "been successful at painting the view of the pro-choice movement as abortion on demand - and nothing can be farther from the truth."
So why not join with Republicans in getting rid of Roe v. Wade and returning to the majorities the determination of what limits, if any, to place on abortion? Posted by Orrin Judd at December 24, 2004 11:06 AM
The trendnoids who pay for much of the Democratic Party campaign would never stand for it.
Posted by: Bart at December 24, 2004 6:09 PMGoing back to a state by state determintion of things like abortion, gay rights, etc., would take the social issues out of the national political arena and make Dems better able to compete for Federal office. Please quit writing about this. :)
Posted by: Dan at December 24, 2004 8:34 PMThings sure have changed, haven't they? Who would have thought, even 10 years ago, that the pro-abortionists would be on the run?
Every child you have is a vote in the election of the future.
Posted by: Randall Voth at December 25, 2004 10:58 AMWell, they have trouble convincing their children that they are not about killing babies because they are about kiling babies.
I shall never be able to escape the look in my son's eyes when I answered their questionsd about what abortion meant. The young, you see are close enought ot the womb that they can see the abortionist's scissors plunging into their own skulls.
Their look of revulsion and horror was that of the conquistador in the death chamber atop the pyramid in Tenochtitlan, who, as his eyes adjust to the darkness begins to see the blood-stained walls and the Chac-Mool statue waiting to receive the still-beating heart, and knows he has encountered the gates of Hell.
Posted by: Lou Gots at December 26, 2004 2:35 AM