Exposing the Fault Lines

This is a revealing story on how social conservatives would respond to a Rudy Giuliani candidacy. This quote stood out:

“Who could possibly replace social conservatives as the GOP’s grassroots?” asked Dan Sullivan, a northern New Jersey veteran of several campaigns. “Country club Republicans? Those people write checks and spend their free time riding horses. They're not going to take off work and drive two days to volunteer on a Senate candidate’s race like pro-lifers and homeschoolers did for Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania in 2004.”

Oh, right. The guy who lost the Pennsylvania Republican primary against Arlen Specter. Good example of your political clout there, Dan.

What this quote does reveal to me is a growing sense that the tension between social conservatives and moderates in the Republican party is about to blossom into full-blown hostility. Consider this quote, from the same article:

“Far better for the GOP to lose in 2008 than for pro-lifers to be marginalized from both parties. If Rudy gets the nomination, I will oppose him vociferously. I would want to see protesters with giant gruesome aborted baby photos crash the convention. I’d want the GOP version of Chicago in 1968.”

Here's some little factoids for pro-lifers to consider before tossing in their lot with a third party:

Justice John Paul Stevens is 87.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 74.
Justice Anthony Kennedy is 71.
Justice Antonin Scalia is 71.
Justice Stephen Breyer is 69.
Justice David Souter is 68.

Here is a list of people on Giuliani's Justice Advisory Committee. It's a sneak peek into the people that will be appointed to judicial posts in a Giuliani administration. These are strict constructionists, and far from the types of people we're going to see appointed under a Clinton administration.

But go ahead and strike out on your own. Go third party. You know what the effect of that will be? More dead babies, because the judges Clinton or another Democrat is likely to appoint will do nothing build on the successes of the past eight years. In fact, they're probably going to spend most of their time erasing every step forward and set the cause back decades.

One of the greatest pro-life success stories of the past decade has been the rise of crisis pregnancy centers - places where women are given a full range of options and information on how to deal with their unexpected pregnancy. Those centers are already being threatened with investigation by Democrats such as Rep. Henry Waxman. Do pro-lifers really think the political climate will be more welcoming under a ferociously pro-choice administration?

That's what stomping your feet and waiting for perfect will get you.

But really...go ahead.

Update - The Anchoress nails it:

The third-party pipe-dreamers will once again make the Clinton tag team victorious. And with a Supreme Court likely to need three quick replacements in ‘09, the third party folks will watch as the court becomes a permanent 5-4 liberal majority activist court - for decades. Decades, folks. The America you think you’re going to “preserve” with your third party candidate may become unrecognizable in a very short time. The Roe v Wade you think you’re going to reverse with your unelectable third candidate will seem almost quaint when compared with the “compassionate” euthanasia and the “practical, community-serving, environment saving” limitations on life you’ll be watching get handed down as law by a court determined to see the Constitution as a “living” and flexible document.

posted by Slublog at 12:56 PM

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