Posted on 12/07/2008 3:37:53 PM PST by neverdem
AN iron law of recent American politics dictates that any Republican setback at the polls will be quickly pinned on the pro-life movement. You might think that the Republican Party’s 2008 debacle would be an exception to this rule. John McCain probably mentioned earmarks about a thousand times more often than he let the word “abortion” slip his lips. The Republican ticket’s weak attempts to play the culture-war card — a Bill Ayers here, a Joe the Plumber there — had nothing whatsoever to do with Roe v. Wade. And why should abortion opponents, of all conservative factions, take the blame for the financial meltdown, or the bungled occupation of Iraq, or the handling of Hurricane Katrina?
But never mind. Pro-choice Republicans, in particular, know exactly whom to blame for their party’s showing. As Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush administration E.P.A. chief, explained after the election, it lost because “the party was taken hostage by ‘social fundamentalists,’ the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion.”
The conservative columnist Kathleen Parker made the same point more vividly: “The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the G.O.P. is what ails the erstwhile conservative party.” The neoconservative writer Max Boot was diffident about the matter (“I don’t think Republicans need to panic,” he wrote, but “one area where I do see some room for adjustment is on the issue of abortion”) and the right-wing humorist P. J. O’Rourke was blunt (pro-lifers should “give the issue a rest”). The message is clear: If the Republican Party would only jettison its position on abortion, it would be back on its feet in no time.
For pro-lifers, these refrains are as frustrating as they are familiar. But more frustrating than the blame game is the equally familiar advice that...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That's the URL I used for the printer friendly version. Are you getting the printer friendly version or the regular webpage?
what doomed the GOP was the Lehman’s initiated crash followed by the bailout.
John McCain ran away from the Abortion Question and hardly ever mentioned that he was Pro Life while Obama was Pro Abortion.
MCain should have ran commercials specifying that he was Pro Life and outlining what steps he would take to overturn Roe.
yup that’s the bottom line. We need social conservatives who understand the economy.
Are you getting the printer friendly page or not? That’s my question.
The arguments in the OpEd will be made until the cows come home. With the media so in the tank for the rats, I don’t see how Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln could have won.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
The GOP is losing today because it's the stupid party. The press has little to do with it.
I guess no one will answer my question.
It defaulted to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07douthat.html
That’s what I was afraid of. Thank you.
Say, is this from the NY Times, America’s paper of irrelevance!!???
????
Pro-life is the BIGGEST net gain issue for the GOP. The GOP would commit suicide if it went pro-baby killer.
Ross Douthat seems to be head-and-shoulders above every other conservative pundit out there now. Maybe he would like to head up the revitalized conservative movement he proposes.
“Abortion Politics Didn’t Doom the G.O.P.”
Weak-assed RINO politics did.
“We need social conservatives who understand the economy.”
And fiscal conservatives that understand that socons WILL NOT compromise their beliefs for any political party to gain power.
Nonsense . Saddleback made it quite apparent as well as Dobson and other prominent evangelicals endorsing McCain .
Everyone knew McCain was pro-life , but there was no need for him to incessantly proclaim it .
You are wrong on this one!
The NYT would love nothing more than for GOP faithful to commit suicide by casting adrift the social conservatives in the party and go back to being a non-national party like we were in the first half of the century when we never challenged for control of either House of Congress.
The NYT liked it alot better when they never had to listen to our opinions and only had to put up with the occasional renegade President like Reagan in between dupes like Nixon and Ford.
It redirects to the regular page. The NYTimes is on to our tricks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.