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This morning Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando brought to my attention a letter he just had published in the Orlando Sentinel regarding the priority of abortion in assessing the candidates in the upcoming election. Here is what he wrote:“Jay Hamburg’s article Wednesday, ‘Evangelical: We Can Back Dems, Obama,’ inaccurately implied that Catholic leaders shared the positive assessment the Rev. Joel Hunter gave the ‘abortion plank’ of the Democratic Party’s platform.“The bishops have gone on record stating just the opposite. And they are the ones who speak as the leaders of the Catholic Church in the United States–and not political operatives...

Sixty-five percent. That's Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey Jr.'s rating with NARAL Pro-Choice America, the standard measure for a politician's abortion-rights-advocacy purity. Sixty-five percent -- voting with NARAL two out of three times -- does not a pro-life Democrat make. And yet, when the Dems announced that Casey would be speaking at their convention in Denver, it was widely accepted that he could be described as a pro-life presence there. But one indicator of Casey's false colors -- besides his voting record -- that shows his comfortable alignment with the same old pro-abortion puppet masters dominating the Democratic Party could be...

NEW YORK, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-Abortion leader Francis Kissling has published an article acknowledging that the new Democratic Party platform favors the cause of abortion and sex education, even more so than in previous years.Kissling notes that the new platform "derives its moral authority from 'a woman's right to choose safe and legal abortion'", unlike older ones that spoke merely of "privacy."She is also delighted that the platform makes no mention of making abortion "rare", and for the first time mentions "sex education", which is frequently used to promote contraception, abortion, "alternative sexual lifestyles" and extra-marital sex....

Were you aware that the Democratic Party platform will soon "strongly" support "motherhood"? Many of us with mothers are grateful. Yesterday, a bevy of articles appeared alerting us to the fact that Democrats would offer a pointless embrace of maternity to soften the edges of the party's position on abortion. This, presumably, would grant many social conservatives the space they need to immerse in the warm and tender rays of Hope. Has anything changed policywise on the issue? Has Barack Obama's stance softened? Not yet. And why should it. The right of a woman to choose an abortion is one...

Camp Obama is making a significant attempt to gain popularity among his "fellow Christians" this week by supporting the Democratic platform to "embrace motherhood". The new (and not so much improved) democrat platform is calling for additional funding to pre and post-natal health care, in attempts to gather the Evangelical vote in November. Bush took over 70% of the Evangelical vote in 2004, and Camp Obama is hoping to cash-in on some of those much needed votes in order to put a greater wedge between him and McCain come November. According to recent Gallup polls McCain has a 64% approval...

The 2008 Democratic Party’s draft platform confirms that the party still “doesn’t get it” about Second Amendment gun rights versus the Utopian fantasy that gun control laws will somehow make neighborhoods safer, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. “While promising to preserve our Second Amendment rights,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “the party platform demonizes semiautomatic sport utility rifles and wants them banned, calls for anti-gun show legislation and proposes so-called ‘common-sense’ gun laws. Many Democrats believe bans on most guns are ‘common sense’ and they still support the handgun ban in Barack...

The Democratic Party is planning a convention designed to soften the edges on the party's support for abortion rights, with a revamped platform and a speaking lineup that reinforces efforts to broaden Democrats' appeal on the hot-button issue. In a statement fraught with symbolism for those on both sides of the abortion debate, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., an abortion-rights opponent, will be given a prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month. Casey's father, the late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey, a Democrat who also held strong anti-abortion views, was denied a speaking role at...

Democrats ‘Still Don’t Get It’ on Guns Wednesday, August 13, 2008 By Susan Jones, Senior Editor (CNSNews.com) - Beware of what the Democrats are saying about guns in their party platform, a Second Amendment group says. The draft 2008 Democratic National Platform includes the “Utopian fantasy that gun control laws will somehow make neighborhoods safer,” said the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. “While promising to preserve our Second Amendment rights, the party platform demonizes semiautomatic sport utility rifles and wants them banned, calls for anti-gun show legislation and proposes so-called ‘common-sense’ gun laws,” said CCRKBA...

The national platform approved at a Democratic Platform Committee meeting in Pittsburgh on Saturday includes language that calls for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented by Democratic President Bill Clinton and for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. Under current federal law, homosexual conduct is illegal in the U.S. military. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has said he favors repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and allowing avowed homosexuals in the military. In Congress this summer, some Democratic members started laying the ground work for such a policy change should Obama be elected...

CNSNews.com Dems' New National Platform Opposes Defense of Marriage Act Tuesday, August 12, 2008 By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) – The 2008 Democratic Party platform draft, which will be submitted to delegates at the Democratic National Convention for approval later this month, expresses opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he wants to repeal. “We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act,” says the platform draft. “We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.”

A group of Hillary Clinton supporters wants the Democratic national platform to include a line decrying "pervasive gender bias in the media," but a new poll of attitudes among women about the '08 campaign does not lend much support to the push. The survey, a joint endeavor by well-known Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and Democratic counterpart Celinda Lake, found that "despite all the talk about sexism in the presidential campaign, the majority of women voters laid the blame for Hillary's loss squarely on her and her strategists' shoulders; they largely reject gender as a cause of her demise." The precise...

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Pressured by progressive activists who objected to the tepid language in a draft document prepared by the Barack Obama campaign, the Democratic platform-writing committee reworked the party's official agenda Saturday to include a clear commitment "that every American man, woman and child be guaranteed to have affordable, comprehensive health care." The official draft, which was adopted at the platform committee's gathering in Pittsburgh, will now be submitted to the Democratic National Convention for approval. The platform is likely...

Abortion has been dividing the culture, including political parties for over 30 years now. In its last several iterations with the Clintons, Al Gore, and John Kerry, the Democratic party platform has been rather decidedly one-sided.Roe v. Wade is to be affirmed and defended. End of story. Oh yes, there was the language of "safe, legal and rare," but the emphasis was always on 'safe and legal,' with 'rare' little more than an afterthought. Barack Obama is a different type of candidate. As he sees it, Roe is not an endorsement of abortion, so much as an affirmation that abortion...

Abortion has been dividing the culture, including political parties for over 30 years now. In its last several iterations with the Clintons, Al Gore, and John Kerry, the Democratic party platform has been rather decidedly one-sided.Roe v. Wade is to be affirmed and defended. End of story. Oh yes, there was the language of "safe, legal and rare," but the emphasis was always on 'safe and legal,' with 'rare' little more than an afterthought. Barack Obama is a different type of candidate. As he sees it, Roe is not an endorsement of abortion, so much as an affirmation that abortion...

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Democrats shaped a set of principles Saturday that commits the party to guaranteed health care for all, heading off a potentially divisive debate and edging the party closer to the position of Barack Obama's defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The party's platform committee moved smoothly through a range of issues for the fall campaign and approved a document that will go to the Democratic convention in Denver later this month for adoption. There was little dissent -- or room for it -- in the day's meeting and a compromise on health policy took one flash-point off the...

Democrats adopt goal of health care guaranteeUpdated: Aug 9, 2008 04:57 PM EDT PITTSBURGH (AP) - Democrats have shaped a platform that commits the party to guaranteed health care for all. The adoption of that plank Saturday in Pittsburgh headed off a potentially divisive debate and brought the party closer to the position held by defeated presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton. Barack Obama, likely to be the Democratic nominee, has stopped short of proposing to mandate health coverage for all. He aims to achieve something close to universal coverage by making insurance more affordable and helping families pay for it.

Marc Ambinder has a copy. 54 pages in all, much of it Obama stump speech boilerplate stripped of the incandescent oratorical genius of “Yes we can.” Foreign policy begins on page 23; the section on Iraq is 22 lines long, just nine more than the section on tribal sovereignty on page 50 and 14 more than the section on “don’t ask, don’t tell” on page 30. The Iran section follows below. Is “high-level diplomacy” a euphemism for “presidential diplomacy” or is the climbdown on Obama’s promise at last year’s YouTube debate now complete? Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons The...

Washington, DC -- A draft copy of the proposed Democratic Party platform shouldn't surprise anyone involved in the abortion debate. The platform backs unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense but also tries to moderate the party's image with support for childbirth and birth control. The party platform is supposed to mirror the principles and policies of the nominee, in this case pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama. The proposed platform does just that, by promoting unqualified support for abortion and the Roe v. Wade case that ushered in 50 million abortions. Full story at: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4410.html

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Every four years Americans elect a president and both political parties hold conventions to coronate their nominee and build up excitement in advance of the November elections. They also review and approve party platforms and one top pro-abortion is ready to get involved.NARAL president Nancy Keenan informed her supporters on Tuesday that she is headed to Pittsburgh this Thursday to participate in the Democratic Party's platform committee meetings.When she's there, she promises to keep the party's position in support of unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense in place."On Thursday, I have the privilege of...

The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that it is seeking input from the public in all states as it is drafting its 2008 national platform. The party is asking ordinary Americans to host and attend meetings “as an opportunity to exchange ideas and share perspectives on the challenges we face,” according to a DNC release. The party and the campaign of presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama (Ill.) will send policy experts to “as many meetings as possible to serve as facilitators.” The platform committee will then use the written summaries of the meetings in crafting the Democratic agenda. “This process...