Al Gore has been in the news lately. He recently endorsed Joe Biden for President and continues to advocate for action on climate change. People on social media are ruefully speculating about how different things would be if Gore had won in 2000.
Something nobody on the left wants to acknowledge is that Gore's approach to abortion contributed to his defeat. Yes, Florida was stolen, but he also lost his home state of Tennessee, which would have put him over the top had he won it, even with the loss of Florida. Why did he lose Tennessee? Not because a few people voted for Nader. It may well have been because he not only shifted his position on abortion from one that was borderline pro-life to one that was fully pro-choice, but did so in a way that alienated many of those who had previously voted for him and/or Bill Clinton. Instead of Bill's conciliatory "safe, legal, and rare", which at least acknowledged that this was a moral issue to many people, Gore adopted the tone and language of pro-choice activists, dropped his previous opposition to federal funding for abortions, and pretended that he had always been unequivocally pro-choice.
 |
| source |
Something nobody on the left wants to acknowledge is that Gore's approach to abortion contributed to his defeat. Yes, Florida was stolen, but he also lost his home state of Tennessee, which would have put him over the top had he won it, even with the loss of Florida. Why did he lose Tennessee? Not because a few people voted for Nader. It may well have been because he not only shifted his position on abortion from one that was borderline pro-life to one that was fully pro-choice, but did so in a way that alienated many of those who had previously voted for him and/or Bill Clinton. Instead of Bill's conciliatory "safe, legal, and rare", which at least acknowledged that this was a moral issue to many people, Gore adopted the tone and language of pro-choice activists, dropped his previous opposition to federal funding for abortions, and pretended that he had always been unequivocally pro-choice.
Gore wasn't the only one. Some heartland politicians like Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich switched their positions on abortion and were defeated anyway. Others like Bob Casey, Sr. didn't switch but were silenced by the Democratic Party elite, which may have led some of their supporters to vote for Republicans for other offices, including the presidency.
John Kerry’s loss in 2004 is also instructive. There are similarities between Biden and Kerry that should worry Democrats. Like Kerry, few voters are particularly enthusiastic about Biden, and the race is more about why the incumbent is bad than why the challenger is good. Also like Kerry, Biden is a pro-choice Catholic. Catholics in the US come in all political persuasions, but nothing riles up conservative Catholics more than pro-choice Catholic politicians. Gay marriage was another cultural issue that drove up conservative turnout in 2004. COVID-19 may render cultural issues and the lack of enthusiasm for Biden moot in 2020, or it may not -- a lot can happen between now and November.
John Kerry’s loss in 2004 is also instructive. There are similarities between Biden and Kerry that should worry Democrats. Like Kerry, few voters are particularly enthusiastic about Biden, and the race is more about why the incumbent is bad than why the challenger is good. Also like Kerry, Biden is a pro-choice Catholic. Catholics in the US come in all political persuasions, but nothing riles up conservative Catholics more than pro-choice Catholic politicians. Gay marriage was another cultural issue that drove up conservative turnout in 2004. COVID-19 may render cultural issues and the lack of enthusiasm for Biden moot in 2020, or it may not -- a lot can happen between now and November.
If the Democrats lose the swing voters, they lose the election. If progressives take the bait and once again allow the GOP to frame the election in terms of culture-war issues, Democrats will lose the swing voters. Biden has already backed away from his previous support of the Hyde amendment, which is more than he should have had to do. With all due respect to Bernie Sanders and all that he has achieved, he was wrong to suggest that Democrats can't be pro-life. Some are in Louisiana and other places, and the Democrats can't afford to lose them.
Instead of trying to chase pro-life voters and elected officials out of the party, Democrats need to find common ground, emphasize that progressive policies will in fact lead to fewer abortions, and point out that outlawing abortion will not make it stop if the other conditions that drive women to it are still present. The Democratic Party also needs to make sure that pro-life Democrats go to the polls and vote for downballot Democrats -- including pro-life Democratic candidates -- even if some of them might cast no vote for president rather than vote for a pro-choice nominee.
The 2020 election ought to be about two things: (1) saving the republic from oligarchic degeneration, corruption, and incompetence, and (2) saving the planet from catastrophic climate change. The culture wars will have to wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thoughtful comments welcome. All comments are moderated. To prevent spam, a Google account is required. (If you use gmail, you already have a Google account.)