Liberals, get a grip. Democrats who oppose abortion are still Democrats.
".... I urge voters who support the choice for
life to ignore the “not welcome” and “keep quiet” signs that liberal
Democrats have hung on their party’s door; I tell them we should send
Democrats, of whatever stripe, to Congress. Of whatever stripe means
supporting — energetically — what will inevitably be largely candidates
who support abortion rights.
The blue wave I hope for would mean a
House, and maybe even Senate, that supports abortions. A troubling
prospect, I admit, for someone with my perspective.
"But
this isn’t just about the lesser of two evils, although it’s true that
only a significant Democratic victory will check the president’s
relentless assault on our nation’s political norms, its vulnerable
people and its moral and material environment. Those who oppose abortion
have their own moral reasons for looking beyond near-term abortion
right advocates' victories and throwing themselves into a blue wave.
"Put very simply, Donald Trump is the worst thing that has ever happened to the antiabortion movement...."
Whole argument at the Wash Post.
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ReplyDeleteI suspect the vote that the Democrats will fail to get out is the youth vote. I could be wrong. Bernier Sanders and others are out there, and the media are ignoring them. So perhaps the young people will show up at the poles, and there will be a blue wave.
ReplyDeleteBut I will not be surprised if the blue wave fails to materialize.
And that we will be in for two years of marking time with narrow majorities in both House and Senate in which nothing will happen while we listen to the Trump, and hope the Democrats give the young people really good candidates and issues in 2020.
Thanks for linking the very good WaPo article by your "very good friend", Peter Steinfels. It is the best articulation of a pro-life Democratic position that I have seen.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, the Democratic candidate for governor in our state has listed his position as anti-abortion, but on board with all other Democratic party positions. We'll see how he does against incumbent Republican governor, Pete Ricketts. Who basically bought the death penalty back with his own money. And vetoed Medicaid expansion over the legislature's support, even though it hurt his own budget. So pro-life.
In Illinois, both gubernatorial candidates support abortion rights. Republicans are the ones who may not turn out.
ReplyDeletePeter did a nice dissection on the D's brain specimen and found the main cause of death. The only politicians who have any real say about abortion wear black robes. The others can just talk. The president couldn't even veto an anti-abortion constitutional amendment -- or sign it. It would go straight from Congress to the state. And yet we have a political party that can't nominate someone for tax assessor if she isn't right on abortion. It would make more sense to require proof of having read a William Vollman novel as a test for endorsing candidates.
ReplyDeleteWell, reading the article will give the Ds something to do after the red wave sweeps away their dream of women's freedom because even a lot of women are scared to death of brown mothers and children posing the greatest threat to our Armed Forces since Dec. 7, 1941.
I made the mistake of reading the comments. There was only one out of, I don't know, maybe 30, that could in any way be construed as tolerant. It said, "It's a big tent, welcome." The rest were ready to burn him for heresy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I resent the term "reproductive justice" applied to abortion rights; it seems pretty unjust to the lives that are taken.
DeleteSloganeering and rhetoric on both sides helps neither mothers nor fetuses, but it brings in a lot of money. Both sides pretty much take a "by any means necessary" approach to "winning" in the political and moral arena. Neither side will admit to any gray areas that their absolutist thinking doesn't cover.
DeleteSteinfels says that the Republican Party as transformed by Trumpism is a terrible star for prolifers to hitch their wagon to.
ReplyDeleteThat strikes me as a failure of imagination. Prolife Trump supporters do not see the president as the lying racist bastard I do; they see him as a tough daddy figure out to protect their Christian values, which often boil down to expansion of religious freedoms for employers, condemnation of gay marriage, and anti-abortion and -euthanasia measures.
The problem is now and always has been single-issue voters who insist that their candidates get the imprimatur of Right to Life or NARAL, and who dump tons of $$ into forcing candidates to declare themselves on an issue most of Americans feel ambiguous about. Both political parties have been willing to set their party planks on abortion in concrete to get the money.
I no longer pay attention to what ANY candidate says about abortion because I suspect whatever they're saying is meant to appease rather than honestly address the issue.
Pro-life Dems are fine by me. So are some pro-choice Republicans.
Since there isn't a pro-life socialist party, I will walk into the booth and punch the big Democrat button. I won't vote for a Republican for the state legislature under any circumstances because it gives them gerrymander ability. It's a shame that the Democrats aren't a real cure for the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteWe have an anti-gerrymandering proposal on the ballot in Michigan. Hoping it passes. Also set to be another legal marijuana state. The bishops here oppose it because it contributes nothing to strengthening families. Neither does booze. Wonder if they supported Prohibition!
DeleteWe can no longer vote a straight party ticket here. Thank you, idiot GOP term-limited legislature.
Voted this morning, they said business had been brisk, but we didn't have to wait in line. Ballots were paper and pencil, as usual. The biggie issues here are the gubernatorial race, a Senate seat, 3 House seats, and Medicaid expansion. I really want to see Ricketts be a one-term governor.
ReplyDeleteI have lived across the street from my polling place for 30+ years and have voted there exactly once. Voting by mail (euphemistically called Absentee Ballots) is the only sane way to do it. Take your time; review the arguments; consult with whomever; then drop in the postage free drop boxes we have here in California. Charging people postage to vote by mail is effing ridiculous.
DeleteWe could do voting by mail here, too, if we wanted to. Maybe next time we will. It's never a problem at the polling places, though, especially if you go at off-peak times. Lunch hour and 3:00 to 6:00 wouldn't be good.
DeleteI trust our current elections supervisor, but: If you want to find voter fraud, look in the elections offices (especially at the state level) instead of at voters. And anything outside the normal is an opportunity for the folks who are likely to screw around.
DeleteAnyhow, it's fun to say hello to the neighbors.
That is so interesting how many of you find friends at the polling place. I've lived in this house for 27 years, and every single election except one has been at the grammar school about three blocks away - same school that my sons attended, and that nearly every kid in this neighborhood attends. And in all that time, I don't think I've ever seen someone I know at the polling place. Even the judges seem to change now from election to election.
DeleteJim, I've been seeing the same people at the polling place (which has shifted three times since we've lived here) for at least 20 years. It's their "thing", their civic contribution. Some of them are getting quite up in years, but there's no heavy lifting.
DeleteWe used to vote at schools, but for security reasons they discontinued that. Now ours is at a bar (closed during the day).