Democrats latest attempt at dividing Americans
Published in the Longmont Times Call, 3/23/12
You have to hand it to the President and his Party – they really know how to create an issue from thin air and then use it to divide Americans to help them win elections. The fracas over birth control in the past few weeks is a perfect example.
The problem for Democrats is that Republicans have, by and large, walked away from issues of women’s reproductive rights over the past few years. Republicans finally see this as a political loser because, lo and behold, women do not want politicians telling them what to do with their bodies. Many conservatives, myself included, have always felt that our core philosophy of empowering individuals trumped whatever we might personally think about things like abortion rights. But, it has taken all of the 40 years since Roe vs. Wade to convince the leade`rship of the Republican Party to drop this from their agenda.
To the extent that any political party ever speaks with one voice, the Republican Party is now saying loud and clear that they have no interest in limiting a woman’s reproductive rights, period. Consider this – when the CNN debate monitor kept pressing the issue of birth control at the Presidential debate a few weeks ago, the audience booed loudly. While the CNN commentator wanted this discussion, neither the candidates nor the Republican audience did. As far as most Republicans are concerned, this issue is settled and women’s access to all forms of birth control is secure.
To me, resolving the issue of women’s reproductive rights seems like a great time to start putting this issue behind us and letting society heal. But, that’s bad news for the Democrats who have come to count on the boogeyman of reproductive rights to scare women into voting against Republicans. To win elections, Democrats need these women’s votes, and Republicans aren’t cooperating.
So, a few weeks ago, the President, against the advice of many of his closest advisors, issued an edict that forces institutions like Catholic Charities to give free birth control to their employees. As expected, a bunch of religious leaders pitched a fit. Republicans suggested that maybe this is a First Amendment issue with religious freedoms being threatened, but they did not propose any limitations on access to birth control, only who might pay for it. Bingo.
All of a sudden, Democrats started lining up at the podium with a litany of accusations painting Republicans as monsters trying to take away women’s freedoms. Any opinion ever expressed by a Republican was used to expose their alleged intolerance and desire to dominate women. For example, they reminded us that, in 2006, Rick Santorum expressed an opinion that, with respect to birth control, the bad overshadowed the good. A few weeks ago, he made crystal clear that he had no interest in limiting women’s access to birth control, just personal opinions. In my America, the guy’s a Catholic and should not be punished for his personal adherence to his religion’s teachings. Yet, many Democrats and much of the media offered this as proof positive that Republicans were still the beasts they had always been, and they are counting on American women to believe them.
Maybe if Democrats had kept their rhetoric a few decibels lower, this divisive strategy might have worked better. But, this past week, it became hard to miss their intentions. For example, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York made several absurd accusations like, “the Republican Party suddenly wants to turn back the clock and take away contraception from women” and that Republicans wanted to “ban contraception coverage for any woman in America whose boss has a personal objection to it.” For these over the top comments, the Washington Post Fact Checker gave Schumer three Pinocchios, meaning Schumer’s speech contained “significant factual errors and/or obvious contradictions.” He lied and got busted. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, by saying that women should send $5 or $10 to get more Democratic women elected to the Senate, made clear that Democrats were going to milk this issue to gain money and votes.
I have fought the culture wars within the Republican Party for years and I am delighted that we have finally turned the corner and stopped trying to tell women what to do. The issue of reproductive rights no longer has to divide Americans as it has for 40 years. We need to tell Democrats that it’s time to come together on this issue, even if it costs them a few votes.
[email protected]
You have to hand it to the President and his Party – they really know how to create an issue from thin air and then use it to divide Americans to help them win elections. The fracas over birth control in the past few weeks is a perfect example.
The problem for Democrats is that Republicans have, by and large, walked away from issues of women’s reproductive rights over the past few years. Republicans finally see this as a political loser because, lo and behold, women do not want politicians telling them what to do with their bodies. Many conservatives, myself included, have always felt that our core philosophy of empowering individuals trumped whatever we might personally think about things like abortion rights. But, it has taken all of the 40 years since Roe vs. Wade to convince the leade`rship of the Republican Party to drop this from their agenda.
To the extent that any political party ever speaks with one voice, the Republican Party is now saying loud and clear that they have no interest in limiting a woman’s reproductive rights, period. Consider this – when the CNN debate monitor kept pressing the issue of birth control at the Presidential debate a few weeks ago, the audience booed loudly. While the CNN commentator wanted this discussion, neither the candidates nor the Republican audience did. As far as most Republicans are concerned, this issue is settled and women’s access to all forms of birth control is secure.
To me, resolving the issue of women’s reproductive rights seems like a great time to start putting this issue behind us and letting society heal. But, that’s bad news for the Democrats who have come to count on the boogeyman of reproductive rights to scare women into voting against Republicans. To win elections, Democrats need these women’s votes, and Republicans aren’t cooperating.
So, a few weeks ago, the President, against the advice of many of his closest advisors, issued an edict that forces institutions like Catholic Charities to give free birth control to their employees. As expected, a bunch of religious leaders pitched a fit. Republicans suggested that maybe this is a First Amendment issue with religious freedoms being threatened, but they did not propose any limitations on access to birth control, only who might pay for it. Bingo.
All of a sudden, Democrats started lining up at the podium with a litany of accusations painting Republicans as monsters trying to take away women’s freedoms. Any opinion ever expressed by a Republican was used to expose their alleged intolerance and desire to dominate women. For example, they reminded us that, in 2006, Rick Santorum expressed an opinion that, with respect to birth control, the bad overshadowed the good. A few weeks ago, he made crystal clear that he had no interest in limiting women’s access to birth control, just personal opinions. In my America, the guy’s a Catholic and should not be punished for his personal adherence to his religion’s teachings. Yet, many Democrats and much of the media offered this as proof positive that Republicans were still the beasts they had always been, and they are counting on American women to believe them.
Maybe if Democrats had kept their rhetoric a few decibels lower, this divisive strategy might have worked better. But, this past week, it became hard to miss their intentions. For example, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York made several absurd accusations like, “the Republican Party suddenly wants to turn back the clock and take away contraception from women” and that Republicans wanted to “ban contraception coverage for any woman in America whose boss has a personal objection to it.” For these over the top comments, the Washington Post Fact Checker gave Schumer three Pinocchios, meaning Schumer’s speech contained “significant factual errors and/or obvious contradictions.” He lied and got busted. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, by saying that women should send $5 or $10 to get more Democratic women elected to the Senate, made clear that Democrats were going to milk this issue to gain money and votes.
I have fought the culture wars within the Republican Party for years and I am delighted that we have finally turned the corner and stopped trying to tell women what to do. The issue of reproductive rights no longer has to divide Americans as it has for 40 years. We need to tell Democrats that it’s time to come together on this issue, even if it costs them a few votes.
[email protected]
