Half of the Abortion Clinics in Ohio Have Closed. And Kasich Is a ‘Moderate’?

[marmar]

(The Nation)  In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Ohio Governor John Kasich is definitely what Saul Bellow called a “contrast gainer.” He doesn’t make nasty dick jokes or relish attacks on protesters or insult the other candidates with stupid nicknames, much less insult their wives or talk about blood flowing from women’s wherevers. To the apparent astonishment of his colleagues in Ohio and Washington, who recall an intemperate shouter and player of political hardball, he comes across as genial, warm and not crazy. Not crazy is good! It hasn’t garnered him many votes—for Republican primary voters crazy is the best—but it’s won him plenty of goodwill from the shell-shocked media. Imagine: He believes in climate change, he accepted the Medicaid expansion, and he’s spoken of his concern for the unfortunate, the “people in the shadows.” That’s more than enough to make him accepted at 538.com as a possible “moderate backstop” (Nate Silver), “consummate moderate” (Clare Malone) and “moderate Republican who talks down to other Republicans” (Harry Enten), not to mention at The Washington Post (“a moderate, or, worse, a RINO”) and ABC. The New York Times, while acknowledging he is “no moderate,” praised him as a compromiser and “not an extremist” in an editorial urging Republicans to vote for him in the Iowa primary. In advance of next week’s Wisconsin primary, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has endorsed him, mentioning his independence, leadership, pragmatism, and experience. It’s as if someone has to play the calm-centrist-conservative role now that Jeb Bush, the original actor in the part, has left the stage.

 But come on, pundits and editors. Do moderates defund public education and blast public-sector unions? And since when does moderate mean “one who does everything in his power to destroy women’s reproductive rights”? When you call him a moderate, what you’re really saying is that these issues doesn’t count when you’re filling out your scorecard. To focus on his attack on women’s health: Are we all so used to the notion that over a million women a year should be forced to give birth, no matter what, or seek illegal procedures? Is Texas the new normal?

Actually, Ohio under Kasich is a lot like the Lone Star State. Since becoming governor in 2011, Kasich has signed every anti-abortion measure placed before him—17 so far. He signed a bill that severely limits abortion access after 20 weeks and approved a ban on state-funded rape-crisis counselors’ referring clients to abortion services or even informing them of their right to end their pregnancy, even though he claims to support a rape exception. He signed a requirement that patients have (and pay for) an unnecessary ultrasound to test for a fetal heartbeat and be asked whether they want to listen to it (after they’re read a mandatory script written by anti-choice state legislators). He appointed to the state medical board the head of Ohio Right to Life, Michael Gonidakis, who is not a doctor. (But then neither is Richard Hodges, director of the state department of health, who is a former turnpike inspector.) In February, he signed a bill depriving Planned Parenthood of $1.3 million in state and federal funding, including funds for a program to curb infant mortality. Pro-life! ...............(more)

http://www.thenation.com/article/half-of-the-abortion-clinics-in-ohio-have-closed-and-kasich-is-a-moderate/

[MADem]

1. Who in hell ever said he was a MODERATE? He's virulently anti-choice and always has been.

He may SOUND reasonable, but that's not hard--he's up against Five Mistress (Or is it Eight) Canadian Cruz, Lily Munster's dad, or Donald "Crazy Hair and Crazier Ideas" Trump.

The THESIS here is off. The Nation should know better than to lead off with this kind of phony assertion.

The guy is a loon, he just has a better presentation than the other two.

That's the story.

[marmar]

4. It's not the Nation's assertion. It's people like Nate Silver that they reference.

[MADem]

5. Lies travel half-way round the world....

They just shouldn't repeat that bullshit. Everyone paying attention knows that Kasich is a Roman Catholic of the sort that thinks they're personally responsible for Vatican enforcement, not the Kennedy style of Roman Catholic who regarded faith as a personal thing and not something to be foisted upon the unwilling or unwary.

Lots of people can appear "agreeable" upon surface contact. But when ya dig down deep, you see the Icky-Fundy end of things. There are priests who are less infected with doctrine than Kasich. He's an atypical fellow, way too invested in his personal faith and two notches off from being a proselytizer.

The lead on any article about Kasich should be that his political POV, particularly with regard to choice, is somewhat to the right of Attila the Hun.

[Rex]

7. The mainstream media keep calling him that.

He is a total loon like Cruz.

[MADem]

8. The lead off point should be that he's a wolf in sheep's clothing--always. If it's the Nation or

the NYT. Because that's what he is.

Months ago, when he started doing the end run ads in NH, running ad after ad and watching his numbers creep up from zero to two, three, five, nine percent.... I speculated that he'd be trouble and have staying power--and it looks like that's what is happening.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up on the GOP ticket in some capacity.

[Democrats Ascendant]

2. This! He's a good actor, but he's NO moderate.

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing!

[BlueMTexpat]

3. He's every bit as bad as the other GOPer

candidates. he only looks moderate in comparison.

[Rex]

6. Samantha Bee says he is as extreme as Cruz and she has proof.

[HughBeaumont]

9. Not only anti-woman and anti-LGBTQI, but SUPER anti-labor.

With "moderates" like this, who needs neo-fascists?

[Flyingbird5066]

10. I think comparatively moderate is a better description

[Cobalt Violet]

11. hopefully it won't be Kasick vs Clinton.

She doen't poll well against him and they know it.

[Eleanors38]

12. "Moderate Republican" is NewSpeak® for any GOPer not Ted Nugent.