Abortion and Health Insurance Reform

 Posted by Mike  Abortion, Healthcare, U.S. Politics  4 Responses »
Nov 102009
 

Abortion is a complicated issue. Even the most ardent pro-choice advocates have to deal with the fine line between abortion and infanticide, while the most ardent pro-life advocates have to deal with the fine lines between abortion, contraception, and miscarriage. The current debates focus on ease-of-access debates (government subsidies, parental consent, etc.) none of which have simple answers, at least not for anyone who seeks to be simultaneously compassionate for women stuck making hard choices and their offspring who have no choice in the matter at all (not to mention the even more complicated rights of fathers and the parents of under-age mothers). So generally speaking, I tend not to vote on abortion, other than to respect those who view the subject with both thought and compassion–traits that the most ardent politicians (pro-choice or pro-life) tend to lack.

Case in point: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, one of the people running for Ted Kennedy’s old US Senate seat, fully and completely lost my vote yesterday. Continue reading »

The Language of Abortion

 Posted by Mike  Abortion  1 Response »
Mar 122009
 

The new, and already embattled, GOP Chairman Michael Steele just put his foot in a hornet’s nest. In an interview with GQ Magazine, Steele seemed to take a pro-choice position:
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In Other News…

 Posted by Mike  2008 Election, Abortion, Crime, Homosexuality, Racism  No Responses »
Nov 052008
 

Here are some other (non-presidential) races you may be interested in: (Note: these results are very preliminary and might yet change.)
Continue reading »

Two Paths To Success

 Posted by Mike  2008 Election, Abortion  15 Responses »
Jan 182008
 

Imagine that there is an issue that you really care about; we’ll say American adoption of the metric system. Right now, neither party supports adoption of the metric system, but to be fair neither party has taken a stance against it either. Now, you’re first job is to go out into the public and mobilize a few million people to take a strong stance on the issue. This will be a lot easier if you can convince one or more pre-existing social networks to join your cause: unions, churches, the AARP, etc. Alrighty, so now you’ve gotten your millions of people ready to march on Washington and demand the implementation of the metric system. Here comes the tricky part: the politics. In particular, you’re faced with a basic fork in the road that will determine all of your future political strategies. One path is to stay non-partisan, fight to convince people of both parties to support the adoption of the metric system, lobby everyone in Washington equally (with the understanding that some Congressmen and maybe even some parties will be more friendly than others), and use your votes to try to swing legislators in your direction. The other path is to incorporate the metric system into the party platforms of one party–with the understanding that pro-status quo forces are likely to line up against you in the other party–and spend your resources trying to get members of your party elected in large enough numbers to force change on the issue.

Continue reading »

“Anyone But Giuliani”

 Posted by Mike  2008 Election, Abortion  1 Response »
Oct 092007
 

If I were Mike Huckabee, I’d be pretty upset right now.

This weekend, a number of leaders of the Social Conservative movement have signed a pledge not to vote for any candidate, in the primary or general election, that does not support overturning Roe v. Wade. Leading the charge is James Dobson, who laid out his position in a New York Times Op-Ed this weekend. This move is rightly seen as an attempt to encourage Republicans to shy away from Rudy Giuliani; suddenly his “electibility” is called into question if he cannot count on the support of social conservatives.

Of course, it isn’t just Giuliani. He’s the worst of a bad bunch as far as many social conservatives are concerned. Thompson is too much of a federalist for anyone who wants to ban abortion at a national level. Romney’s conversion on their issues seems a little too convenient for many. And there is a lot of historical bad-blood between many Christian conservatives and John McCain, not withstanding his recent attempts to mend those breaks. And so, because conservative evangelical leaders cannot agree on a candidate, they simply have taken a “anyone but Giuliani” approach, in the vague hopes that this will be enough to keep his name off the ballot come November 2008.

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