{"id":3103,"date":"2008-04-16T07:48:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-16T13:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/choice-in-pennsylvania\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:10:05","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:10:05","slug":"choice-in-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/choice-in-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Choice in Pennsylvania"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Carter Bundy<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here in the Philadelphia<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> suburbs, Hillary<\/a> \u2013 and Democrats generally \u2013 are on a roll. Bucks and Montgomery<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> counties, once Republican strongholds, are now represented by Democrats in Congress. In the area where I\u2019m currently working, one representative supports Hillary, the other Barack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

To a large degree, this is part of a natural shaking out of party affiliation following the 60s. Lyndon Johnson<\/a> predicted that Democrats would lose the South for at least three generations following his signing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The North rises<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The South\u2019s transformation started with Nixon\u2019s<\/a> Southern Strategy and peaked with the Republican Revolution of 1994, led by Southerners.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My favorite is serial adulterer Newt Gingrich<\/a>. He pushed a divorce at his first wife\u2019s hospital bedside as she battled cancer, and married another woman a few months after he finalized that divorce.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Not satisfied he\u2019d done enough to carry the mantle of family values, he later, as a married man again, had an affair with an intern. While trying to impeach the president. You stay classy, Newt.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Anyway, that kind of leadership didn\u2019t go over so well in the North, and helped drive the North\u2019s Democratic resurgence.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Like the whisky priest in Graham Greene\u2019s<\/a> \u201cThe Power and the Glory,\u201d hypocritical religious louts like Newt can\u2019t kill Christianity (actually, Greene\u2019s whisky priest is a far more likeable character, but the religious hypocrisy is a common thread).<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s political map colors may have changed, its religion hasn\u2019t. That brings up the one thing that has separated Pennsylvania Democrats from other states\u2019 voters I\u2019ve seen: abortion.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Democratic dancing<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My union doesn\u2019t take a stand on abortion, nor does it take a stand on guns. We focus on issues that relate directly to our members\u2019 \u2013 and workers\u2019 \u2013 well-being.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But you can\u2019t be involved in politics and avoid questions like abortion forever. It\u2019s not sufficient, in my opinion, to simply say, \u201cvote with your wallet, not your religion,\u201d because that\u2019s not a battle we\u2019re going to win most of the time.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Too often, faced with religious voters, supporters of pro-choice candidates seem scared to say \u201cI\u2019m pro-choice\u201d or \u201cmy candidate is pro-choice.\u201d They look like they\u2019re dodging the issue, instead of defending the position.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Truth is, any medical procedure is potentially harmful to the health of the person undertaking it. Often, but not always decisively, religion comes into play. The fewer times that decision has to be made, the better.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Those of us who are pro-choice need to show voters that we\u2019re serious about reducing abortions, making them rare in addition to safe and legal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Framing choice<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Respectful and open talk about abortion isn\u2019t going to win over every pro-lifer, but we\u2019re silly to dance around the issue, deluding ourselves that pro-life voters won\u2019t figure out or care that Hillary and Barack are both pro-choice. Better to get in front of the issue and have input in the voters\u2019 decision-making.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A few days ago one of our members in Doylestown, wearing a sizeable crucifix, said, \u201cI really like Hillary, except I\u2019m pro-life.\u201d I said Hillary had worked diligently to get more funding for foster homes and to streamline domestic adoption procedures, and had worked with Republicans to do so. Strong prospects for legal, quick adoption reduce abortions.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Also, abortion rates generally fall when the economy is good for everyone, not just a handful of folks. In good economic times, unplanned pregnancies don\u2019t generate the same levels of apprehension about the ability to care for a child.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Finally, I added that Hillary\u2019s always been a champion of responsible, age-appropriate sex education and contraceptive availability.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a solid set of policies to reduce abortion if you believe that it should be something decided by a woman and her doctor, not by the government.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Doylestown woman is going to vote for Hillary. Another guy at a door said he simply can\u2019t vote for any pro-choice candidate. A third member \u2013 a Navy vet to boot \u2013 thanked us for our candor and is now leaning towards Hillary instead of McCain<\/a>. Hopefully that transfers over to Barack (who shares Hillary\u2019s positions) if he wins the nomination.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There are plenty of pro-life, otherwise liberal Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> voters who can live with a candidate who believes in protecting the option of safe, legal and rare abortions. Especially as an alternative to intrusive government and back-alley tragedies.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Controversy du jour<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s comment at the now (in)famous San Francisco<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> fundraiser was newsworthy, but it\u2019s about run its course. He\u2019s right that tough economic times can lead to scapegoating, anger and even bitterness. Fair enough.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But when commentators like fellow Haussamen columnist Jim Kadlecek<\/a> (whose work I generally love and think is spot-on) say that Barack is in trouble for \u201ctelling the absolute truth\u201d about the reasons for clinging to religion or guns, respectfully, they\u2019re simply off the mark.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Good times, bad times<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As several older union members have noted, Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> workers were just as religious when their unions and manufacturing base gave them the best blue-collar wages and benefits on the planet.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And guns? The state virtually shuts down at the beginning of hunting season in times good and bad. Obama made a mistake. A significant one. He overstated a point that had some elements of truth by tying in unrelated issues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Blue-collar workers with economic stress like hunting and church. They like them in good times, too. Correlation is not causation. Time to move on.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME<\/a> in New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here<\/a>. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carter Bundy Here in the Philadelphia suburbs, Hillary \u2013 and Democrats generally \u2013 are on a roll. Bucks and Montgomery counties, once Republican strongholds, are now represented by Democrats in Congress. In the area where I\u2019m currently working, one representative supports Hillary, the other Barack. To a large degree, this is part of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bundy-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}