November 12, 2007

WH '08: Think Of The Cup As Overfloweth-ing

Is this a good or bad cycle for the religious right, already?

Despite a season of complaints, it turns out all sorts of Christian conservatives are finding something they like in each of the leading Republican candidates. The latest recipient of endorsement manna: Fred Thompson, who has picked up the National Right To Life Committee.

The timing couldn't be better for the "Law & Order" star, whose two-month-long campaign is getting ho-hum reviews (subscription). Joe Klein all but wrote Thompson off today, before news of the NRLC nod broke.

Clearly some will have to rethink the ETA of Thompson's political demise. The NRLC is expected to formally announce its endorsement tomorrow, and it will be worth keeping an ear open for the language they use. Thompson is a federalist on the abortion issue. That's pretty in line with a lot of conservatives, but not with advocacy groups like NRLC that won't settle for less than a federal ban on the procedure.

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Posted at 5:54 PM
Posted to: Abortion, Campaigns, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, WH 2008
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November 07, 2007

WH '08: 9/11 Really Did Change Everything

In an anticipated but nonetheless stunning development, televangelist Pat Robertson has endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president.

"For months I have contemplated our future and the outstanding group of men who are offering themselves to the Republican Party to be its standard-bearer in the 2008 presidential election. Today, it is my pleasure to announce my support for a mayor, America's mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and a proven leader, who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson announced at a campaign press conference.

The controversial Christian right leader had been courted heavily by the Republican candidates. Mitt Romney delivered the May commencement address at Robertson's Regent University, and John McCain apologized to Robertson for grouping him with the "agents of intolerance" in the evangelical community after his failed 2000 presidential bid.

"Sometimes you say things in anger that you don't mean," the Arizona senator explained in a March interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Robertson had made it clear that all was not forgiven, declaring on several occasions that McCain would never win his vote. Romney, however, was thought to have an actual shot. Robertson hadn't gone on the record criticizing the former Massachusetts governor's Mormon faith, even though it's considered by some evangelicals to be a cult.

Observers may describe this coup for Giuliani as a game-changing moment in Republican electoral politics. They might be overstating things a bit.

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Posted at 12:45 PM
Posted to: Abortion, Campaigns, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, WH 2008
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October 26, 2007

Not The Values Voters' Year: Part II

The Family Research Council's Washington Briefing last weekend only reinforced the impression that religious conservatives are in for a frustrating election cycle. As the GOP front-runners continue to beat each other up over who wants abortion outlawed the most, and a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll [PDF] indicates the eventual nominee might have to clam up on the issue when he enters the general.

The survey of 900 registered voters indicates a majority of Americans believe women should be given the option of terminating pregnancy in nearly all cases. Seventy-three percent said abortion should remain legal for those whose lives were endangered by their pregnancy; 70 percent said victims of rape or incest should also have access to the procedure. The majority thins for the greyer areas of the mother's mental health and if the fetus has a fatal birth defect. Fewer than 40 percent said an unwanted pregnancy justified abortion.

It's not as though abortion won't be a campaign issue next year; with two probable vacancies on the Supreme Court looming for the next president, it undoubtedly will. The Democratic Party has learned to ditch the talking points of pro-choice activists and moderate its language on abortion. So, in a departure from previous cycles, the ground conditions and these numbers indicate the abortion issue works more favorably for the Democratic candidate in '08.

-JANE ROH

Posted at 2:09 PM
Posted to: Abortion, Campaigns, Democrats, Republicans, WH 2008
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May 04, 2007

Bush Threatens Veto Over Any Abortion Rights Measures

President Bush Thursday warned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., he would veto any legislation that reaches his desk seeking to overturn federal anti-abortion statutes.

Bush's letter comes as the House prepares to begin the FY08 appropriations process, which will see probable attempts by the Democratic majority to attach abortion-rights riders to spending bills. The appropriations process has typically been fertile ground for abortion-related riders.

The full article is free on NationalJournal.com; see the full edition of today's CongressDailyPM (subscription) for more from today's edition.

Posted at 4:05 PM
Posted to: Abortion, Congress, President Bush
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April 18, 2007

SCOTUS Upholds Late-Term Abortion Ban

The absence of retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was felt in a very real way today, when the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly upheld a federal law banning so-called partial birth abortions.

The 5-4 decision [PDF], written by swing voter Anthony Kennedy, held that the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act did not violate a woman's right to an abortion. The act prohibits doctors from performing a dilation and extraction procedure, also known as D&E, which is a common method of aborting more developed fetuses. Opponents say it is a gruesome procedure in which fetuses that might otherwise live are killed and then pulled from the uterus.

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Posted at 12:33 PM
Posted to: Abortion, Constitution, Supreme Court
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April 12, 2007

Zell Miller: Abortion Key To Military Crisis

Reports of a U.S. military "stretched thin" by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have dominated the media in recent days, but former Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., was calling attention to the problem a month ago. In a speech delivered in Macon, Ga., on March 6, Miller offered his own explanation for the troop shortage: Roe v. Wade.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion has contributed to a shortage of U.S. citizens who could be fighting wars and alleviating the potential Social Security crisis, Miller told an anti-abortion group.

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Posted at 10:49 AM
Posted to: Abortion, Military
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