|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Embryonic Stem Cell Split May Have Consequences NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential hopefuls split on whether to provide more federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research, reflecting a GOP rift on an issue that could have political consequences in this year's midterm elections and in 2008.
"President Bush and I do not differ about the need for strong guidelines governing stem cell research," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. However, the heart surgeon added: "The limit on cell lines available for federally funded research is too restrictive."
Frist and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., abortion opponents who are considering presidential bids, broke with Bush - and the social conservatives who are crucial to the GOP - when they voted Tuesday for a bill that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Three other potential Republican presidential candidates - Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and George Allen of Virginia - opposed the bill.
Story Continues Below
"We're talking about fragile early human life. It should be treated as sacred," Brownback said.
Bush has promised a veto - his first - as the White House contends the bill would use federal taxpayer dollars to "support and encourage the destruction of human life for research." Congress lacks the votes to override the veto.
The bill has rankled a faction of conservatives within the GOP - religious voters who oppose abortion and gay marriage and have grown disgruntled with the president's insistence for a guest-worker program in immigration legislation.
Bush, congressional candidates, and presidential hopefuls who oppose the bill could end up scoring points with that dissatisfied GOP faction. But the president and his followers also risk alienating many Americans - and a chunk of their rank-and-file - who support stem cell research using human embryos.
Recent Gallup polls show that a majority of Americans say such research is morally acceptable and support federal funding for it. Polls found Republicans more conflicted, with just 51 percent calling embryonic stem cell research morally acceptable and only four in 10 favoring federal funding of such research.
GOP strategists say the differences that the stem cell debate exposed doesn't make life any easier for Republicans trying to maintain their grip on Congress, especially moderates in Democratic-leaning districts.
"The focus is not on the Democrats who opposed the president on stem cells, now it's on the divisions in the Republican Party," said Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster.
The vote was 63-37 with 19 Republicans siding with all but one Democrat - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who is trying to win re-election in a Republican state.
"I think politically it's stupid to have this debate now," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said last week. "He [Bush] will cast his first veto over this, which people will interpret as that he doesn't care about the curing of chronic disease. Nothing could be further than the truth."
Seeking to minimize exposure of GOP fissures and appease critics, Republican leaders orchestrated votes on two other, less controversial bills that the rank-and-file could embrace and cite in their fall campaigns. Those measures passed with no opposition.
In some midterm races, the stem cell issue looms larger.
In Missouri, Republican Sen. Jim Talent faces a tough challenge from Democrat Claire McCaskill while an initiative promoting stem cell research likely will be on the state ballot. Talent opposes the initiative; McCaskill supports it.
On Tuesday, McCaskill previewed a possible line of attack.
"I think it will be difficult to explain to the majority of people who want our country to continue to be a beacon of hope to the world," she said of those in opposition.
The issue also has surfaced in Senate races in New Jersey and Tennessee.
Stem cell research funding is all but certain to be a political issue heading into the 2008 presidential campaign as many scientists continue to press the federal government to act because existing stem cell lines are unsuitable for clinical trials.
Lobbying lawmakers, including McCain, was former first lady Nancy Reagan. She is a strong advocate of the research as her husband, the late President Ronald Reagan, suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
For McCain's part he said, "I always just do what I think is right," explaining his vote and brushing aside suggestions that his position could hurt his standing with conservatives.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2008 NewsMax.Com |