Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: GOPs: Don't let abortion ruin Rudy
By Eric Rodawig
The Hoya (Georgetown)
05/04/2007

(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON — Two Saturdays ago at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, an audience member addressed Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani with her concern that the issue of abortion "is dividing this party so badly that we may not be able to elect a Republican president." Giuliani's response was, condensed into a sound bite, that the Republican Party needs to "get beyond" abortion. While this statement was certainly controversial, it's also accurate.

I understand how genuinely important the abortion issue is to many people in the Republican Party. I, in fact, share their view, as I believe that abortion should never be permitted except when it may save the life of the mother. The view that I do not share is that the best way to prevent the practice in America is to become a single-issue voter with regard to abortion.

Pro-life activists often complain of activist judiciaries imposing legalized abortion on our country. Roe v. Wade was a terrible decision for many reasons, but direct appeals to citizens and legislatures to circumvent the courts have failed, for whatever reason. This fact cannot be ignored.

I had never been as angry politically until this year, when I have frequently heard Republicans say that they would not support Giuliani if he ran for president against Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Not only is this obviously aggravating to an enthusiastic Giuliani supporter like myself, but not voting Republican in that (or any) hypothetical election is explicitly antithetical to the stated goals of the pro-life movement. This is the ultimate example of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

It doesn't matter if Giuliani is on occasion legislatively pro-choice. It is a reasonable and widely held position to be personally against something without believing that the government should ban it.

If Hillary or any other Democrat is elected president, he or she will have the opportunity to appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court, making Roe v. Wade harder to overturn. Conversely, if Rudy Giuliani is elected president, since he is on the record as supporting strict constructionist Supreme Court justices like Samuel Alito and John Roberts, he is likely to do the opposite.

If you're a Republican, it's certainly OK to pick someone besides Giuliani in the primary election. But if he gets the nomination, pro-lifers would be gravely mistaken to withhold their support. Not voting for Giuliani in a general election would be like saying, "Sure I could do something that would increase the chance Roe v. Wade is overturned, but I choose not to."

Instead of focusing on increasing the chances of overturning Roe v. Wade, many pro-life voters are basing their vote completely on this one issue. This is the other political sin: focusing every election solely on abortion.

If the citizens of South Dakota, one of the most conservative states in the nation, are unwilling to pass an abortion ban, the pro-life movement has clearly (and embarrassingly) erred in its advocacy. The response to this setback should be an extra-legislative approach to change people's hearts and minds about the issue, and not one that ignores every facet of debate during elections except for abortion.

Giuliani is widely regarded as the most electable Republican candidate in this election. Trying to sabotage his campaign because he isn't pro-life enough means that we are less likely to have a Republican in the White House in 2008, and subsequently much less likely to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Is that what the pro-life movement wants?

Giuliani is taking the perfect approach to the 2008 election. He's focusing on his strengths — proven leadership and the war on terror — and is taking a consensus-building approach to his centrist social views. When asked, he talks about his personal but not legislative opposition to abortion, and makes sure to mention the judges he'd like to appoint to the Supreme Court.

This is the politically intelligent way of whispering "Don't worry, pro-life Republicans, you'll be taken care of" without alienating people who are pro-choice. He's not changing his position like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did, and he's not being openly antagonistic to the GOP base like Arizona Sen. John McCain has the habit of doing. So why attack him for this?

Recent polls vary, but Giuliani is currently the first choice of about 25 percent of evangelicals, and 40 percent of the Republican Party. Both numbers are tops in each demographic, although about the same number of evangelicals are currently undecided.

This is an encouraging sign that many Republicans have already believe what I've outlined above. But these percentages must continue to climb in order to prevent a schism comparable to the Lamont-Lieberman fiasco in Connecticut last fall.

Another former New York City mayor, Ed Koch, once said, "If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist." For the benefit of the pro-life movement and the Republican Party, please don't force us to amend this joke to 11 out of 12. The only person laughing will be Hillary — from the Oval Office.

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