July 05, 2005
If Roe Goes, so Goes the GOP Coalition?That is the take of this LA Times piece by Peter Wallsten:
But the prospect of progress toward overturning Roe - and the realization that President Bush could have at least two chances to make transformative appointments to the court — has exposed a disagreement between conservatives who want abortion criminalized and pragmatic Republicans concerned that shifting the issue from the courts to the ballot box would lead to massive GOP losses.Of particular concern is the party's fate in closely contested battlegrounds such as Ohio, Florida and Michigan, where the resurgence of the abortion issue could alienate moderate voters who have helped Republicans make gains on all levels.
"Smart strategists inside the party don't want the status quo changed," said Tony Fabrizio, chief pollster for the 1996 Republican presidential campaign of Bob Dole.
This is, at least, a bit of a new twist on the MSM/Democratic meme about abortion and the GOP. For decades now, we GOPers have been advised to modify our pro-life position in order to save ourselves from inevitible political destruction...now we're being advised that if we don't save Roe, we'll also fly apart.
Ummm, no. You see, what upsets all conservatives - even pro-choice conservatives - about Roe is not that it legalised abortion in all 50 States, but that it usurped the powers of the States to determine such issues. I'm opposed to abortion, but I'm also very much opposed to having my rights as an American taken away from me by a few un-elected judges on the Supreme Court. Absent Roe, we would have to hard political fights in the States as each State seeks its own best route on the issue...some States would keep it legal upon demand; others would make it legal in some or most cases; a few would ban it outright. On a State by State basis, members of each Party would be asked their opinions on the matter - and Democrats in pro-life States would be hoist upon the same petard as Republicans in pro-choice States...except that, in the end, it would all work out in the wash. The pro-life and pro-choice GOPers would still be able to go to Washington and work together because the abortion issue would not be a national issue - it would be a State issue, where it properly belongs.
If anything, the end of Roe is actually a boon for the Democrats - they have had their abortion on demand albatross 'round their neck for 30 years. They just don't seem clever enough to understand that a defense of Roe is the defense of something that not one in four Americans actually supports.
Posted by Mark Noonan on July 5, 2005 09:35 AM
Comments
Roe provides political cover for Abortion on Demand. It took a lot of bullsh*tting by leftists to get it to that point. If it were actually in their best interests to reverse the decision, they'd just let us. They know damned well that it would make them fight for Abortion on Demand and that is death to the Democrats. It is their own party that woudl fissure and rupture if that battle had to be fought again.
Posted by: The Valiant Elephant ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.gopbloggers.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 5, 2005 04:07 PM
Val,
I agree that the dems will be the one damaged by a reversal of Roe v Wade. But I put their claims that it will somehow damage the GOP as projection and whishful thinking. More of their Fantasy Land belief system.
Posted by: Reverend Scaramonga at July 5, 2005 04:41 PM
Indeed, Scar. The fantasy based community is about to find out how lonely the abortion on demand position actually is.
Posted by: The Valiant Elephant at July 5, 2005 05:17 PM
