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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
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January 17, 2012
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David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
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Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 22, 2008
/ 22 Elul 5768
Anti-abortion Democrats and global-warming Republicans are becoming increasingly important
By
Jonathan V. Last
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A few weeks ago, at the Democratic National Convention, I attended a town hall meeting sponsored by the anti-abortion group Democrats for Life.
Fifty-six people packed into a small hotel meeting room for the event. Five of them were speakers; at least a dozen others were journalists. Another reporter saw me counting and asked how many anti-abortion Democrats were in attendance.
"All of them," I replied.
It's a droll little joke, but the recent conventions actually highlighted two interesting and important minority positions: anti-abortion Democrats and global-warming Republicans.
These two minorities don't get much respect, either from their own parties or from their ideological kin on the other side of the aisle. Yet both are on the march and deserve to be taken seriously.
Opposition to abortion has gained a foothold within the Democratic Party. But it's important not to exaggerate reality: The Democratic Party is still very much the party of abortion rights.
Sixteen years ago, Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. was denied a speaking slot at the Democratic convention simply because he opposed abortion. Yet, as president, Bill Clinton reached out, positing that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" - with the emphasis on the last.
Three years ago, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton walked further down the road, calling abortion "a sad, even tragic choice" and saying the party's goal should be that "the choice guaranteed under our Constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."
At this year's convention, Casey's anti-abortion son, Sen. Bob Casey, was given a prime-time speaking slot and even permitted to acknowledge his disagreement with Sen. Barack Obama on the subject.
Clearly, there's been a slow opening of space within the party, and in it have flowered a handful of anti-abortion politicians, such as Casey and North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler, who have bright national futures.
Mind you, anti-abortion Democrats don't talk the same way as their Republican counterparts. At the Democrats for Life event, for instance, nobody contemplated an overturning of Roe v. Wade, let alone a ban on abortion. Instead, anti-abortion Democrats envisioned more near-term goals: reducing the number of abortions through education and adoption and providing assistance for mothers and children, with constitutional fights far out on the horizon.
For purists, of course, such half-measures aren't enough. Many antiabortion Republicans look down on antiabortion Democrats as sellouts or squishes. But this is a terrible mistake.
If your goal is to end abortion - and not simply to elect people on your team - then a solid national consensus has to be forged on the subject. The only way a consensus will be reached is if Democrats are converted from within their party.
Interestingly, this debate is mirrored in the GOP by Republicans who are invested in the environmentalist side of the climate-change debate. The Republican default position is very much on the skeptical side of global warming, but the party has managed to put two climate-change defenders on its presidential ticket.
Sen. John McCain has rankled Republicans by making climate change a priority. "Suppose we're wrong, and there's no such thing as greenhouse-gas emissions, and we adopt green technologies," he says. "All we've done is give our kids a better planet. But suppose we're right, and do nothing?"
To be sure, hard-core environmentalists find a great many faults with McCain. For instance, he wants to open offshore oil drilling. But this misses the larger point: If you're an environmentalist Democrat gravely concerned about global warming, then McCain represents a rare opportunity.
Obama's views might more closely resemble your own, but should he win in November, the climate-change debate will remain essentially static. If McCain wins, the official Republican position transforms, shifting the entire framework of the discussion toward the environmentalist side. If you actually believe global warming is one of the great threats facing America, it's hard to see why you wouldn't vote for McCain.
Of course, in the real world, calculations aren't made so rationally. To paraphrase the great journalist Midge Decter, at the end of the day you have to join the side you're on.
Meaning that, come November, Democrats will vote for Democrats and Republicans for Republicans. But for those who claim to really care about the issues, it shouldn't be so easy.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Jonathan V. Last is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
09/09/08 On both sides, this year's political gatherings marked the start of changed strategies that have transformed the race
07/23/08 With policy shifts, Obama now seen as an ordinary pol
06/26/08 Bush failed to hold others responsible for their mistakes, and he let his admirable vice president do too much
02/18/08 GOP will unify as Obama and Clinton continue to vie
12/13/07 Fun begins as races tighten and shift
12/05/07 Iran's future: Would lower fertility rates lead to stability?
11/01/07 Nobel Prize in Economics — where Team USA still dominates the game
10/25/07 Handicapping the GOP's presidential horse race
10/11/07 Germany's Turks provide a lesson on immigration
09/13/07 British battle can offer us a perspective on casualties
09/12/07 Alas, GOP seems set to take hit in Senate
08/30/07 Europeans have supplanted backbones with capitulation
08/24/07 Politics holds the key to ensuring a healthy growth in population
08/17/07 Finessing the Democratic center
08/10/07 Woohoo! Satire seeing a revival
07/31/07 Historical model: For Obama, it's Carter
07/26/07 Baseball, apple pie, a 2nd chance
07/24/07 Harry Potter and the alchemy theory
07/06/07 Life is hard — and often short. The perils of professional wrestling
06/21/07 After Bush: Gingrich and others worry that his shortcomings could have a far-reaching effect on the GOP
03/09/07 Why the British outclass us in acting
01/23/07 Romney: Seriously great, but with baggage
12/23/06 When truth is transpicuous
12/05/06 A realistic plan: Split the country in two
11/08/06 We could easily pull out of Korea and let China have regional hegemony. But would it be the right thing?
10/24/06 The decline of revolution
10/18/06 Why the free market is king
08/07/06 Democracy, of itself, not solution to all problems
08/01/06 We get the movies we deserve
07/27/06 How long will U.S. empire last?
© 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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