More on Abortion and Democrats

Rick is right to point out how far the Democrats have to go concerning abortion and how daunting the challenge is to pro-life Democrats.  Without denying or minimizing that challenge, I would respond with a couple of comments why pro-life Democrats should soldier on.  First, the presidential race, at the primary stage, is the place and time at which the abortion-affirming wing will be strongest among Democrats, because the process aims at the one highest position and the activists have so much influence.  But as the article linked by Rick notes, the issue overall is under debate in the party, and the pro-life position will be more successful in moving things its way in some other contexts, such as Congress, governorships, and state legislatures.  Thus, in the 2006 midterm elections, a number of congressional candidates favoring measures against abortion, led by Bob Casey in the Senate, were nominated by the Democrats and won.  Second, the hard-nose abortion-affirming wing of the party has been empowered this cycle by, among other things, the widespread sense that the Democrats could win on "values" issues without having to move on abortion, simply because the Bush administration has flunked so many moral issues: the justice of the war in Iraq as initiated and executed, the half-hearted attitude toward renouncing torture, the acceptance of scandal and overreaching, etc.  One can't put the weight of blame for Democrats' positions onto Republicans; nor am I claiming equivalency among all these issues.  But as a practical matter, it would help those Democrats trying to push their party on abortion if the competing party provided a less morally flawed challenge.

Tom