Politico asks Was abortion a wave-stopper for Democrats in 2010?
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By branding Republican challengers as outside the cultural mainstream on the issue, Democrats managed to hold on to at least a slice of the political center by courting and winning over moderate women in a handful of key states.
The strategy ran counter to the one that enabled the party to broaden the political map in 2006 and 2008, when Democrats thrived by running candidates whose positions on abortion were closely attuned to the socially conservative areas where they sought office.
This year, however, Democrats adopted almost the opposite approach late in the 2010 campaign. As many of the anti-abortion Democrats elected over the last four years were going down in defeat, the party made abortion a central concern in a handful of battleground Senate races — and they ended up in the Democratic column as a result.
One reader wrote to me to make this point too.
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In New York, EVERY statewide contest was won by Dems because they used abortion rights to drive the women’s vote. Gillibrand started it in her Senate contest against DioGuardi, then Schneiderman used it in the AG race against Donovan. Paladino’s website stated he would end Medicaid funding for abortion, which even got me annoyed.
Although the country is evenly divided on the question of abortion, it is a bottom line issue with many voters.
I have talked to a number of Jewish woman who tell me they get incensed over the idea that women might be denied the choice.
While it is true that Palin said she wouldn’t legislate against abortion but she would advocate against it. She made a point of endorsing candidates who were pro-life and as President she could make a point of appointing Justices who are likewise, prolife.
While I am at it, I talked to a brilliant Jewish woman this weekend who said that Obama won on “smoke and mirrors” but that she remains a committed Democrat. Jews are hot wired to stand up for social justice which means providing a good safety net. They are also hot wired to resist dictates of the Christian religion. No way do they want to be ruled by their stand on Abortion. Jews by their nature are progressive. For centuries Jews were oppressed by the status quo so sought progressive policies.
When Jews must choose between their attachment to progressive values including abortion rights and their attachment to Israel, many of them would sooner abandon Israel or convice themselves that Obama or Democrats are not anti-Israel that abandon progressiveness.
It is wrong to label such Jews as stupid. They simply didn’t want to vote against their progressive values. Dershowitz is a case in point.
It is not only Jews who are protective of their choice but the whole feminist movement is.
Palin only hurts her chances by being anti-abortion. I can easily see the Democrats making abortion a central issue in the next election.
Palin should declare herself early that she would not make abortion illegal but she would make it rare. This would help her enormously.
Another big divide is on the question of the safety net. Democrats campaign on being their brother’s keeper. Conservatives campaign on freedom and never complicate their platform by discussing the safety net. They can’t avoid this issue forever. Bush campaigned as a “compassionate Conservative.”.
Its time for Palin to write another facebook entry on her views on the appropriate safety net. She should dispell any notion that she is for a dog eat dog world.
Let’s end the thead here. I just posted “Here she comes”. You can continue there.
I wonder why any rapist gets less than twenty years.
Oh, really? Will the real Birdalone please stand up? Birdalone previously wrote:
The TLC channel that aired Sarah Palin’s Alaska recorded its highest ratings ever for the first segment:
http://www.okmagazine.com/2010/11/sarah-palins-alaska-pulls-epic-ratings-for-tlc/
Here’s what the left-leaning newspaper USA Today with the largest circulation in the country had to say:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2010-11-12-1Apalin12_CV_N.htm
Here is what Variety – the standard in the entertainment industry – had to say:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944004/
Quote:
Whatever one thinks of Sarah Palin’s political acumen or inability to name preferred reading matter, she has exhibited a high IQ in exploiting reality TV and new media to advance her cause.
Unquote.
True.
People in New York really value the right of teenage girls to have abortions so that they can fit into a swimsuit or a prom dress in case they get pregnant.
It is quite different in Pennsylvania or even Illinois. (A pro-lifer won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1998.)
about Donald Trump? He has a good habit of jumping in when government fails to solve a problem, at least in Manhattan. The Wolman Skating Rink was The Donald’s first great save. I would think he would have trouble winning through the GOP primaries. Candidates underestimate the importance of the existing party infrastructure, and governors, in getting people out to vote. Obama allowed his GOTV to deteriorate since turning it over to the DNC as Organizing for America. That list of thirteen million supporters from 2008 went poof! Dirty little secret the msm does not cover 🙂
Ted, I agree with whatyou wrote here, with my notes in brackets. I like Palin, but she has spent the last year+ being a personality.
No one will care about what she did before 2008. I could not believe how she wasted her TLC show on Alaska – the Boston Herald had an
excellent op-ed from Palin supporter Jennifer Braceras: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1296353 “Flippin’ embarrassing? You betcha!Mama Grizzly marginalizes herself :(”
The word is gravitas + real accomplishment. Keep your eye on Haley Barbour – the real power in the GOP. Rick Perry just succeeded Barbour as head of the Republican Governors Association.
I would remind all that Rudy Giuliani was the hands-down favorite for 2008…
I am a pragmatist on abortion. Throughout history, women have done it and worse. It should be safe, rare, and legal, and NOT the issue that dominates the 2012 election. I watched how the Dems used it in NY this year, and it was effective in driving turnout where the Dems needed it. Reality is reality.
Plus, apparently, her voice really grates on many people. I read that in a lot of comments all over the web. Voice matters.
AE continues to shoot the messenger, attributing false labels in a condescending manner that is usually the province of Liberals.
AE is certainly not an experienced analyst of American politics and should try being human.
Time for this thread to go cold 🙂 Way too soon to even be speculating on 1) whether Obama will even run again, 2) who the GOP challenger will be – everyone is trying to delay their announcements into spring, 2011, and 3) whether a third party candidate (besides Mayor Bloomberg) will also emerge.
I wonder why some rapists get more than twenty years.
A.E. These same concerns would come up no matter who was runninp. Did you see the Donald Trump is considering going up against Palin? He will make his decision by June. I was shocked and didnt realize he was THAT keen about politics. Given his theatrics of late I question his motives.
Only time will tell. I find it curious that these concerns only come up for conservative women. She was governor of our largest state with tremendous oil and gas issues, and before that ran a powerful oil and gas commission as I have detailed previously. My question is whether she can afford the pay cut.
My guess is she will only run if the other Republican candidates are not popular with the Tea Party movement.
It may be good to be cute and perky. It may take the sting out of kicking Ahmadinejad’s arse. To see her serious side you have to take the time to read her book. One thing they will know for sure is that she says what she means and means what she says.
Palin is too cute and perky. This works against her. Also for the last year she has been playing a supporting role like a cheer leader. Now she has to promote herself and show how “presidential” she is in an intellectual setting. She has to show a somber intellectual side to herself.
A.E. lol. Her physical appearance is fine. Better than the current First Lady. Now A.E. move your brain up a few feet. She needs to show leadership on the World Stage. She needs to prove she is ready for the big time and can gain respect from other world leaders to help improve Americas image and relations. Fishing and hunting in Alaska as well as being a cheerleader for her Dancing with the Stars daughter is all fine. But she needs to be more out there with the more serious matters and stop falling prey to sensationalism. The White House is a tough job and a big sacrifice with all the things she holds so dear. Is she going to be ready willing and able?
Check these out video clips of Sarah Palin. What you see is what you get.
1. Palin on abortion rights:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/palin-abortion-rights-forget-10647334
2. Palin hints she may run in 2012 as a public service:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/sarah-palin-run-president-public-service-11711037
3. Palin rallies Tea Party members prior to November 2:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/palin-tea-party-americans-winning-11911908
4. Palin tells Barbara Walters she could beat Obama:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/sarah-palin-beat-obama-barbara-walters-12174190
Considering whom Palin will be running against, what exactly does this mean? Palin is already the most tastefully dressed and best looking female politician out there. No one said the dowdy Hillary Clinton needed to look more presidential, even when she was running for president.
Oy, veh. Is this the intellectual level we are dealing with? We are seeing the absurd proposition that Sarah Palin, who has nothing to do with “Dancing with the Stars” other than being the mother of a contestant, being described as “alienating” the millions in the viewing audience who voted for her daughter, because the daughter beat someone called Brandy, whom the same viewing audience disqualified. Is this logic warped, or what? Then this same person has the nerve to question Sarah Palin’s intelligence and credentials?
Bristol didn’t “force” anyone out. The audience voted for Bristol to stay in and for this Brandy to go get a glass of brandy. Sarah Palin had nothing to do with any of this. The audience was voting to see more of her daughter, Bristol, and her partner’s dancing.
Now Birdalone’s soaring intellect describes the most aggressive Chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the most aggressive and even-handed Governor of Alaska, and the most assertive conservative Tea Party spokesperson in America as a “quitter”, reflecting the far left wing talking points which describe up as down and black as white. Forget Birdalone’s calumnies based on her pro-abortion stance as opposed to Palin’s pro-life stance. Here are the facts.
The Democrat ninjas prevented Palin from doing her job by obstructing her with a series of bogus ethics charges, costing Alaska time and money and a distracted government. Palin then decided not to run for re-election for the sake of Alaska. This led to her decision to turn the reins over to the Lt. Governor, who was free to run the state on a full-time basis, and give up the kushy Governor’s salary which she could have continued taking while being a lame duck governor. There was nothing to “tough out” once she made the decision not to run for re-election. The tough part was taking a calculated risk for a person who was not independently wealthy by taking on the entire pro-abortion left wing, and beating them.
Almost all the ethics charges were dismissed as bogus.
By contrast, Barack Obama continued to unethically take his Senate salary for 18 months without doing anything in the Senate to earn it while he ran full-time for the presidency.
Palin has a history of ethical conduct when she runs for an elected office. She takes a great personal and financial risk by giving up a salary from a previous position because she is spending time on her own goals and thus believes it would be unethical to accept a salary. She resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission when she decided to run for Governor, giving up that salary when she was not required to while taking a huge risk of not being elected. Similarly, she resigned from her Governor’s position wheh she decided to move on. This was another huge risk because there was no guaranty she would be successful as a conservative spokesperson, author and speaker. In fact, she has been wildly successful making $14 million over the last year according to Newsweek magazine.
Birdalone is either too young or too uninformed to remember that left wingers like her dismissed and demeaned Reagan as an intellectual light-weight and B-movie-actor just as they are demeaning and dismissing Palin as being a light-weight and quitter. The reasons are basically the same. Reagan was a movement conservative and pro-life, as is Palin.
It is all about abortion for people like Birdalone. Allah help those who are pro-life.
Whether Palin will have the same political path as Reagan from here on we will have to see, but Palin is exactly like Reagan philosophically.
The entire pro-abortion lobby has been gunning for Palin and trying to destroy her and her family from day one after she was chosen by John McCain and they realized to their horror that she had decided NOT TO ABORT her Down’s Syndrome baby, which greatly offended them.
They also realized to their greater horror that she was a true conservative “achievement feminist”, and the “abortion feminists” cannot conceive of any woman who is pro-life being a feminist.
Ted. Sarah has to really want it too. I agree with you that she has to get on the international scene…and study up FAST. She has to start appearing more presidential. Its like assuming the sale. I think she could probably beat Obama hands down.
In california the law is:
264. (a) Rape, as defined in Section 261 or 262, is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years.
(b) In addition to any punishment imposed under this section the
judge may assess a fine not to exceed seventy dollars ($70) against
any person who violates Section 261 or 262 with the proceeds of this
fine to be used in accordance with Section 1463.23. The court shall,
however, take into consideration the defendant’s ability to pay, and
no defendant shall be denied probation because of his or her
inability to pay the fine permitted under this subdivision.
Nation wide:
Sentencing for rape varies depending on circumstances and locale. However, Department of Justice (DOJ) reports this:
The average sentence for criminals convicted of rape in the United States is 117 months. The average time served is 65 months, which equates to 56 percent of the actual sentence served. For crimes of sexual assault, the average sentence is 72 months, and the average time served is 35 months, equating to 49 percent of time served. “Prison Sentences and Time Served for Violence,” page 1, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.)
What is the average sentence for rape?
Birdalone
The first question one must ask is whether Palin is capable of doing the job. You think not. I think yes in spades.
The second question is, is she electable. You think not and offer Miller as a case in point because Miller with Palin’s backing, could only manage about 35% of the vote. In part I have read that he ran a bad campaign. Maybe so but in the end he could only get his primary voters to vote for him. I think it is good case in point.
Sarah has to attract more people from the centre even if they are alienated from her due to the the lying and biased press. She has six months to do it. She has to have a conversation with independents. She must put herself out there with the MSM and with Townhalls. She must do a tour of World Capitals and visit Israel. If she can’t attract more support, she shouldn’t run. She should be a kingmaker in exchange for an agreement to appoint her Secretary of Energy with full presidential backing to her energy policies which involve environmental policies. If she proves herself in that role, she will be a shoo in 2020. She will be 56.
But it is more complicated than that. If you exclude California and New York and a couple of other unwinnable states for Republicans, what are her numbers. Put another way, if you only polled Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, N Carolina, Penn, and Florida, what are her numbers. If she can win those states she is unbeatable.
One notorious case does not make your case. Bernie Madoff got life. What ever happened to `Caveat emptor’?
How so?
Vinson Filyaw got 411 years in prison for kidnapping Elizabeth Shoaf, holding her in an underground bunker for ten days, and raping her repeatedly.
How many people get 411 years for grand theft auto?
Why would you think that?
I think I have an idea of the trauma rape victims endure and am not now or ever was and advocate of rape. I am an advocate of mandatory castration of all convicted rapists and in severe cases even death. Unfortunately most rapists never see the inside of a courtroom and penalties for grand theft carry more severe penalties than rape.
Palin is an ultra-lightweight who has, just this week, also alienated much of the viewing audience of “Dancing with the Stars” because Bristol forced out Brandy.
Has Sarah Palin actually visited a foreign country since 2008? Has she participated in any serious foreign policy forum?
No one wins the presidency from the right or the left. Obama fooled enough independents with that post-partisan song and dance.
The more I see of Sarah Palin since 2008, the lower my opinion of her management, governance, ‘working across the aisle’ skillsets.
Because Obama tricked the voters, the voters are in no mood to be fooled again.
No more ultra-lightweights who are quitters or vote present. Palin should have toughed it out in Alaska to finish her term. No whining excuses.
No more popularity contests. No more reality tv. If we do not get a serious, thoughtful President in 2012, who does not play politics for the sake of personal vanity, nothing much will matter after that.
Ronald Reagan served two full terms as governor of California. Palin is NO Reagan.
Yamit. In some cases RAPE is like death. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from talking to me like I am some kind of moron. I am very well aware that is has little to do with sex. It is a way to overpower control and demoralize. Victims of RAPE are often treated differently once people find out about it. It can be like a slow torturess DEATH of emotion mental and spiritual well being. ie. A friend of mine was brutally raped by her next door neighbour. In her words she was BLEEDING LIKE A STUFFED PIG. Her husband WOULDNT ALLOW HER to report it to the police because their neighbour was a Family Man and it would ruin him. Now she had TWO MONSTERS to contend with. She went to rape counselling. Her husband shut her off from the outside world because he didnt want her telling anyone. She finally physically escaped both of them but she and her children were left broke and pennliness. She looked shell shocked. So there are other ways of killing people other than a physical death.
Because Ron Paul’s extreme libertarianism is unacceptable to the American electorate. Don’t believe me. You will see it for yourself in the Republican primaries.
That’s correct. They are bitter liberals who believe the worst about America and Americans. They hate her because she is pro-American, pro-Israel, pro-life, a movement conservative like Reagan was, and has a happy outlook and a happy family life.
Why?
The mainstream media distorts her record.
Birdie, can you give us a brief rationale of why Sarah Palin, with all her documented achievements of fighting corruption and cronyism in the oil industry Alaska, working across the aisle as Governor with meritocrats from either political party, her solid conservative principles, her unshakeable support for Israel, her demonstrated popularity and charisma, her respect for innocent life, would not be acceptable to the American electorate?
I think hell will have to freeze over first.
http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/17/palin-a-hero-to-many-in-tea-party-but-not-their-pick-for-president/
Conservatives who live in the reality-based world…
Larry Elder writes:
http://townhall.com/columnists/LarryElder/2010/11/18/hey,_michael_moore!_clinton,_gore_and_kerry_lost_the_white_vote,_too
Quote:
No Democratic presidential candidate has won the “white vote” since 1964.
Add Obama’s name to a long list of white Democrats who lost that demographic: Humphrey in 1968; McGovern in 1972; Carter in 1976 and 1980; Mondale in 1984; Dukakis in 1988; Clinton in 1992 and 1996; Gore in 2000.
In fact, white voters preferred Obama to Sen. John Kerry — who lost the white vote by 17 points in 2004, while Obama lost it in 2008 by “only” 12 points. Obama improved on Kerry’s share of the white vote in every age demographic, including the 18- to 29-year-olds (which Kerry lost).
Unquote.
True. We have learned to live with you, haven’t we?
Mohammad is long gone. The ones we have to deal with now are radical Islamists, not Mohammad.
You and Mohammad have a lot in common.
I don’t get the math. If 53% of American Catholics voted for the pro-abortion Obama – who even voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in Illinois which requires doctors to resuscitate a foetus born alive from a botched abortion – how did 60 – 70% of them become “not real Catholics”?
I am an American Catholic and I, too, blame the 53% of them who helped elect Obama. They are certifiable morons, but not as moronic as the 78% of American Jews who KNEW that Obama had been mentored for decades by some of the most anti-Semitic radicals in America. None of his mentors were anti-Catholic.
Have you provided health care to the poor?
You have no credibility complaining that other people denied health care to the poor unless you provided health care to the poor yourself.
I wonder why they would reject their own moral tradition.
We disagree here.
My concern is getting Ron Paul elected.
Social programs benefit Nazi nithings who would rather do meth than work.
Max,
have you given the poor health care?
Unless you have, you have no credibility accusing other people of denying poor people health care.
It is a shame that so many Jews would abandon Israel just so pregnant teenage girls can have abortions so that they can fit into a swinsuit or a prom dress.