March 25, 2008

Positioning

From the America blog:

... But, it has gone largely unremarked in analysis of the upcoming Pennsylvania primary that Clinton does have one group of political activists to whom she is especially indebted. Pro-choice groups like NARAL, NOW and Emily's List have been the base of her fundraising and organizational support. They have sent emails and placed phone calls to voters in key primary states questioning Obama's commitment to Roe v. Wade. And, the generational cleavage among women – older women tend to support Clinton by significantly large margins than younger women – is also related to the abortion issue. For older women, Roe was part of their emergence on the national political stage, a process that they see coming to fruition in Clinton's bid for the White House.

Cleavage among women?

In heavily Catholic Pennsylvania, it is curious that so little attention has been paid to Clinton's dependence on these groups. Her campaign is built largely upon her experience during her husband's tenure in office, and few pro-life voters will forget that it was Bill Clinton who vetoed the Partial Birth abortion bill. Did she advise him to do so?

There has been some indication that she did indeed do so. Regardless though she voted against the partial-birth abortion ban and does have a 100% NARAL voting record.

Clinton should find an audience in Pennsylvania where she can distance herself from some of the more extreme pro-abortion arguments. She could say that the Democrats need to move beyond simply defending Roe and find alternatives to abortion or new ways of preventing unwanted pregnancies in the first place. She could repeat her husband's mantra that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" and point to ways that might make it more rare.

The effort would cost her nothing. The older women who are Clinton's base know where she stands on the issue, and they are never going to abandon her. But, she could usefully position herself as a more moderate candidate for the general election, and strengthen what remains as her most credible claim to the nomination: the ability to attract moderate swing voters, many of whom are Catholic and many of whom have continued to deliver large majorities for pro-life Democrats in Pennsylvania.

I do find this odd advice from a Jesuit magazine (well at least I wish this was odd advice from  a Jesuit magazine).  That basically Hillary should just "position" herself with no mention of actually wanting to reduce abortion. Just repeat her husband's mantra about abortion. It doesn't matter if she should actually ever do such as thing and of course if she was actually President she would veto any pro-life legislation  and her court picks would certainly not be the types to restrict abortion.

I also wonder what the writer considers "extreme pro-abortion arguments?" From a Catholic perspective what would be a moderate pro-abortion argument.

Posted by Jeff Miller at March 25, 2008 01:21 PM | TrackBack
Comments

This is essentially the same advice that Rush Limbaugh offered to Bill Clinton when he ran for re-election in 1996. Limbaugh said that Clinton should simply declare that he had converted to the pro-life position.

Rush said that if Clinton did this, he would get 80% of the vote.

Essentially, that's what the Jesuits are telling Hillary. She should simply lie her way into office; her real friends will know the truth.

Posted by Paul, Just This Guy, You Know? email at March 25, 2008 01:48 PM

I've had just about enough insults from you bloggers about us moderate swing dancers. It took me and Burt years of Wednesday night dance classes to get as good as we are today. And just because we're old and only moderate doesn't mean we shouldn't vote for what's her name. And anyway, which would you rather dance to? Burt and I would much rather hop to the Hillary than bang to the Obama. Isn't that right, Burt? Huh? What? He said moderate swing voters? Oops. Sorry. Never mind.

Posted by Emily email at March 25, 2008 01:48 PM

I've had just about enough insults from you bloggers about us moderate swing dancers. It took me and Burt years of Wednesday night dance classes to get as good as we are today.

As long as you don't want to put it in the liturgy...


:)

Posted by Scott W. email at March 25, 2008 02:09 PM

Pennsylvania Democrats DO tend to be more centrist and traditionalist than one finds in California or Mass., but I think it is a mistake to count too heavily on those votes going into Republican hands. That "conservativism" rests on many issues, most significantly on 2nd Amendment grounds.

I would argue that the Conservative Dems referenced in the article are as likely to be Libertarian-minded as Catholic conservatives.

My point is this... The GOP is throwing away PA votes at the state level and there is a residual effect on the national. Given the inclination of all Americans to party loyalty, the defection of GOP votes to the Dems should be a serious concern.

Would that a candidate's stand on abortion, the death-penalty, and public mores had as much space at our table as the 2nd Amendment and the motorcycle helmet laws.

Posted by G-Veg email at March 25, 2008 02:44 PM

Copy and paste error at the bottom, I think.

Posted by Neal email at March 25, 2008 03:00 PM
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