The Democratic think tank Third Way -
run by the same strategists who moved the party to the center on the gun issue
- is crafting new message and policy ideas to help Democrats appeal to Red
State voters on abortion, Newsweek reports in the current issue.
And the
pro-choice groups themselves have begun tinkering with their approach, even
considering whether to abandon the framework of "choice" itself. Last week
Democrats signaled that abortion - or at least the general topic of "privacy"
- will be a major issue at Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' confirmation
hearings.
Story Continues Below
"We've gotten a little far away from talking with people very much from
the heart," admits Karen Pearl, interim president of Planned Parenthood. The
Roberts hearings could give the movement a first chance to publicly test the
new strategy, reports Newsweek Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Debra Rosenberg
in the Aug. 8 issue (on newsstands Monday, Aug. 1).
After issuing a series of memos and a major poll on the issue this fall,
Third Way will roll out a new strategy to help Democrats broaden their support
without sacrificing the party's core values. In one forthcoming brief
obtained by Newsweek, Third Way divides voters into abortion "polars" - those
at each extreme, who believe it should always be legal or always illegal -
and abortion "grays," those who believe abortion should be mostly legal or
mostly illegal.
Surprisingly, Third Way found that Democrats were losing among
abortion grays, even though more of them leaned pro-choice.
The pro-choice groups themselves have also been heatedly debating what to
do. This spring, activists in New York and Seattle invited Berkeley linguist
George Lakoff to speak about how to reframe the abortion issue.
"They found
that choice wasn't playing very well," says Lakoff, who's become an unofficial
guru to beleaguered Democrats. He told the groups it was no wonder: "choice"
came from a "consumerist" vocabulary, while "life" came from a moral one.
In
one of his more controversial suggestions, he advised the activists to reclaim
the "life" issue by blaming Republicans for high U.S. infant-mortality rates
and mercury pollution that can cause birth defects. "Basically what I'm saying
is that conservatives are killing babies," he says.
Lakoff advised focusing on
reducing unwanted pregnancies and suggested that the groups talk about
"personal freedom," a phrase intended to evoke unpopular government intrusion
into matters like the Schiavo case.
Editor's note:
Laugh with Ronald Reagan – get the tape of his greatest jokes – Click Here for FREE offer
Hat Protects Your from Sun and Cancer! Get the Desert Hat Worn By Our Troops – Click Here Now!
Doctor: Natural ‘Medicine’ Reduces Cholesterol
Hold the Toothpaste – Fluoride Is Toxic – Click Here Now
Print Page 
Forward Page 
