Comments on: Another sign that Democrats are rediscovering their backbone

By: gredma

gredma — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:40:27 +0000

What does the guy need to do to be “perfect” on reproductive rights?
An endorsement, and sweeping statement of praise by NARAL, helps!

“Sen. Obama has been a leader on this issue in the United States Senate. Since joining the Senate in 2005, he has worked to unite Americans on both side of this debate behind commonsense, common-ground ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. Sen. Obama supports legislation to provide our teens with comprehensive sex education, prevent pharmacies from denying women access to their legal birth-control prescriptions, and increase access to family-planning services.”
Washington, DC – Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, May 14, 2008

By: More Please - John Mccain | John McCain- Sharpy News

More Please - John Mccain | John McCain- Sharpy News — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:35:11 +0000

[...] This ad seems like a good start, although it says something about the way pundits see abortion that cutting an ad supporting a Supreme Court decision supported by 2-to-1 majorities can be seen as a “counterintuitive” move. The next step: include in an ad the fact that both John McCain and the Republican platform support a constitutional amendment that would make abortion illegal (and indeed, if one takes the platform seriously, first-degree murder) in all 50 states. Drawing attention to your opponent’s exceptionally unpopular opinions really should be Politics 101, but when it comes to abortion for some reason only Republicans seem to believe that you should try to fight on favorable terrain. Share and Enjoy: [...]

By: wiggles

wiggles — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:05:39 +0000

Anything from him yet on the HHS rules on contraception? Conscience clauses?

If he’s going to get tough on reproductive rights, let’s see him get tough on reproductive rights. All I’m seeing here is him bludgeoning female voters with the same Roe v Wade club the dems have been using to keep us in line for 30 years.
Besides, if the bar for being pro-choice is set at not being the guy who will seek to overturn Roe v Wade, we’ve got problems.

By: lymie

lymie — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:55:34 +0000

ANTI CHOICE ANTI CHOICE!!! Sheesh, don’t accept the framing as “pro life” gag.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:35:07 +0000

This is thrilling news. It’s great to hear abortion rights as a selling point for the Democratic Party rather than a hold-your-nose-and-downplay-it issue.

Obama may not be perfect, but this is pretty seriously awesome.

By: Matt Cunningham

Matt Cunningham — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:09:00 +0000

It's not just that being pro-choice is a majority position, it's that half of McCain's female supporters back it as well! Planned Parenthood Poll People in general are confused about McCain's stances on reproductive rights, which makes sense seeing as how the McCain campaign can't talk straight about their position. Obama is betting if he can educate some people about McCain's TRUE position that he can swing them in his direction.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:45:02 +0000

another reason to cross fingers & toes he wins — to finally, finally, finally prove the DLC is full of it, that being vocally pro-choice is electoral poison.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:14:12 +0000

I love this. If Rove wants to have the Culture Wars, let him bring it.

I seem to remember hearing that a lot of evangelicals were turned off by the Bush administration, either because they perceived him as not doing enough to fulfill his promises, or because they embraced a more comprehensive worldview (i.e. moving beyond abortion to include poverty, the environment, etc). There was also David Kuo’s book, although I don’t know how much damage it did.

By: mcc

mcc — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:21:25 +0000

This is great. With the Sarah Palin rollout the Republicans are making a very real play to sell their ticket as “pro-life”, make their anti-abortion credentials a selling point and make reconnecting with the anti-abortion base a very serious part of their strategy. At the same time McCain has finally caved on whether or not the Republican platform will include a universal ban on abortion (McCain had been attempting to change the platform to include rape/incest/mother’s health exceptions). The Republicans appear to be thinking that if they can’t win on the issues or the candidates, they’re going to have to re-start the culture wars quick. So it seems like this– with a serious uptick in both extremism and focus on abortion by the Republicans– is the perfect time for Obama to hit the Republicans on this. Surprising as it is to see a Democrat not hiding on abortion, the fact is hiding from this won’t work. If Obama can’t turn this into a negative, they’re going to turn it into a positive.

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:42:25 +0000

I wish you would edit your post, they are not “pro-life”, they care very little for the lives of the would-be mothers, and they care very little for the already born children or they would put money into health care, education, day care, and other social programs that give women more options to make the choice to have a baby and give their children a better life. They are either anti-abortion or pro-feti, but they are not pro-life.