GOP leader fears backlash if Roe v. Wade is overturned

[kpete]

BOSTON GLOBE
GOP leader fears backlash if Roe v. Wade is overturned
By Nina Easton, Globe Staff | November 17, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Republican lawmaker who helped guide the GOP to an expanded majority in the House three years ago warned yesterday that a Supreme Court ruling overturning a woman's legal right to an abortion -- a possibility if the high court shifts further to the right -- could hurt his party's political prospects and cause a ''sea change" in suburban voting habits.

Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, who chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee through the 2002 election, said that if the Supreme Court threw out Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established that abortion rights were protected by the Constitution, ''you're going to have a lot of very nervous suburban candidates."

At a breakfast gathering of reporters, Davis said Republicans have a political cushion with voters as long as Roe is intact. Currently, ''you can be prolife and no one feels that's a threat to someone having to make a difficult decision" if abortion is illegal, he said.

Davis's comments came days after the disclosure of a 1985 document in which Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. said he believed the US Constitution ''does not protect the right to an abortion."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/17/gop_leader_fears_backlash_if_roe_v_wade_is_overturned/

[LostInAnomie]

1. I've been saying this for years.

If the repukes overturn Roe v. Wade they are fucked for a long time. First of all they will lose a lot of suburbanites who don't want to jeopardize the daughters chances of getting into their college of choice by getting pregnant her senior year. Second they will immediately lose a huge chunk of their one issue voters. Lastly, their insane RR base that will be left will not be happy with just allowing states to decide on the issue. They will demand a national prohibition on the issue. They will never be able to provide that without a constitutional amendment which they will never get.

[tx_dem41]

3. You and I are singing the same song.

I've said that I am willing to take that gamble. Let them overturn it. It will be overturned again within a few years, and the issue settled from then on.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

2. Davis is only hinting at the great underlying truth

to-wit: if Roe is overturned, the GOP loses a huge chunk of its base, namely the mouth-breathing, knuckle-walking "pro-lifers" who come out on election day ONLY because women presently have the right to control their own insides. In addition, a huge moneymaking machine in the form of the Pro-Life Industry potentially dries up.

At the core, Republicans need Roe more than Democrats do. Without Roe, all the Repigs have to entice the Religion Industry Loonies is ten commandments rocks and gay marriage. And in the case of the latter, they shot their wad for the most part in '04 with all those state-by-state "defense of marriage" ballot initiatives.

Overturning Roe runs the risk of marginalizing the GOP.

[LibDemAlways]

4. When push comes to shove all but

the most far gone wingnut politicians know they need votes from moderates and independents to stay in office. Even Santorum understands this - thus, his backtracking on intelligent design. Single issue anti-abortion fundie types are actually a big problem for the repukes. Giving them what they want would be political suicide. Continually making promises that aren't kept may ultimately alienate them, too. In the long run, this is a "no win" for the repuke party which has boxed itself into a corner on this one.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. If this wasn't so damn IMPORTANT, I'd say CALL THEIR BLUFF!

Confirm Alito and Take their "wedge" issue away from them NEVER to be used again. Unfortunately, too many lives would be affected by that. I wish there was another way to expose them.:(