For too long, moderate Republicans have been silenced by party leadership who has pandered to the far right wing. The bullyboy braying of talk radio hosts and self-righteous right-wingers have cowed Republican candidates into acting against their political instincts while the base of the party has been shrinking and shrinking. While expounding the “big tent” theory of party building, leaders of the party were really constructing an outhouse.

He’s splitting the GOP in two because of his views on abortion and gays.
From the WSJ:
“If the party nominates a social liberal like Giuliani, there’s not only the potential, but there’s an inevitability of a split,” says John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, a politically active social-conservative group. “Republicans will learn if [...]

In the wake of the 2006 midterm elections little has happened to predict how Republican voters will ultimately respond to the strong Democratic showing. I suspect that it would be difficult to make definitive conclusion as to what led more voters to back Democratic candidates across all regions of the country. No doubt opposition to [...]

He’s brave. I’ll give him that. Because most of the right wing blogosphere is saying he’s already done after talking about this.
But is he? Or is winning more important to Republicans?
I guess we’ll see.

Rudy is the new straight talker. No doubt about it.
From the NY Post:
Giuliani made his sharpest case for moving beyond social issues this weekend in Iowa, telling The Des Moines Register, “Our party is going to grow, and we are going to win in 2008 if we are a party characterized by what we’re for, [...]

I posted about Giuliani’s liberal judge problem here on March 1st, and now the LA Times picks up the meme.
From the west comes this about the easterner…
One judge approved by Giuliani, Rosalyn Richter, had been executive director of a gay rights organization, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, before being named to the bench. After [...]

If you’re going to get the Republican nomination, there are some things you’ll probably have to agree with the majority of Republicans about. Two of them are abortion and gay marriage. I’m not saying that all Republicans feel this way, but the majority? Yep.
And in that vein…Giuliani may be staring an insurmountable problem in the [...]

But he was wrong. Uhh…woops.
From Politico:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said this week that President Bush “was pro-choice before he became pro-life,� an assertion the Romney campaign now acknowledges was inaccurate. The remark was based on a magazine article Romney had read, his campaign said.[...]
Question: “Bloggers like to call it ‘flip flopping,’ the way you’ve [...]

By seven points, in the new WNBC/Marist Poll.
If those numbers persist, they will likely excuse a number of sins, such as being pro-choice (though I’d wager Rudy will moderate or qualify that position if he runs — the pro-choice but anti-abortion position is being wheeled into place just in time) and being so comfortable with [...]

The concept of morality is a complex topic that elicits passion and consternation as people of differing beliefs attempt to validate their own particular versions. I’ve always found it a little odd that God would only provide us with Ten Commandments when it should have been obvious that we would need an abundance of guidance [...]

Researchers using federal data recently found that — surprise, surprise — abortion rates rise as contraceptive use declines, and vice versa.
Gee, imagine that. Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? So why am I writing about it?
Because some people — relatively influential people — disagree. Some Christian conservatives are starting to jump on the same bandwagon [...]

Looks like support for the ruling isn’t as widespread as many may think.
From the WSJ:
For 33 years Harris Interactive has been measuring attitudes toward the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortions legal during the first three months of pregnancy.
The latest telephone survey of 1,016 adults indicates Roe v. Wade is supported by a slim [...]

So, “When does life begin?” was never the right question. It was just the Right’s question.
The real question is when does a living thing acquire a right to go on living?

Apparently I was wrong in my previous comment on the South Dakota abortion post. I said that a woman couldn’t take the morning after pill. Well, they can according to the new law, but only up to five days.
After that they’re murderers.
From Slate:
Section 3, however, tells a different story: “Nothing in section 2 of [...]

Here’s the actual language in the new law that denies women their equal rights:
No person may knowingly administer to, prescribe for, or procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being. No [...]

Just wait…there will be more:
JACKSON, Miss. – A Mississippi House committee voted Tuesday to ban most abortions in the state – an unexpected move that left abortion opponents grappling to stake out a position on a proposal that could prompt a lengthy court battle.
The only abortions allowed under the bill would be if the life [...]

Looks like the forces waging the war over Roe are digging the trenches for another (final?) battle. South Dakota is on the verge of all but banning abortion, a move that will almost certainly spawn a case that is appealed to the Supreme Court. To people like South Dakota State Representative Roger Hunt, this move [...]

Yes, the Senate in SD voted for eliminating abortion rights, and by nearly a 2-1 margin:
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) â€â€? South Dakota moved closer to imposing some of the strictest limits on abortion in the nation as the state Senate approved legislation that would ban the procedure except when the woman’s life is in danger.
The bill, [...]

Here we go…
The South Dakota House has passed a bill that would nearly ban all abortions in the state, ushering the issue to the state Senate.
Supporters are pushing the measure in hopes of drawing a legal challenge that will cause the US Supreme Court to reverse its 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
The bill banning all abortions [...]

Now that Alito is on the bench, several very pro-life states are going to start introducing legislation that will test Roe v. Wade.
From the Washington Times:
Legislators in at least five states are proposing bold anti-abortion measures as the Bush administration reshapes the U.S. Supreme Court, a report said.
With the goal of challenging the Roe vs. [...]