Is It Possible That Bush Does Not Want To Overturn Roe?

[ruggerson]

This is a man who has never outright answered that question, when put to him publicly in debates and news conferences. He sidesteps it and launches into his routine about how he respects "life" and is a "pro life" President, but he never will discuss Roe v Wade nor will he discuss an amendment to the Constitution banning abortion.

Could the real dynamic at play here be that Bush does not want Roe overturned, but has played the religious rightwingers for fools all along? That both Roberts and Miers will vote to uphold Roe? And that Bush's excuse can be that he never had a litmus test and that he merely appointed people who would not "legislate from the bench?"

Could this be what is finally raising the ire of the rightwing? They are coming to the realization that Bush played them for their votes?

[uniden]

1. yes

the fool played the fools for fools

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I've always assumed that the RW pols don't really wanna give up

abortion as an issue, which is what would happen if Row were overturned. They need abortion, various gay/lesbian issues, guns, etc. to keep the sheep all frothed up between shearings.

[johnaries]

12. I've been saying the same thing for years. Look at the partial-

birth ban. RW's purposely left out the "health of the mother" exemption. SCOTUS basically told them all they needed to do was add that provision. Instead of adding it and trying to push it through again, they just started screaming about Liberal Courts legislating from the bench.

And accepted more campaign contributions.

[A Simple Game]

16. to keep the sheep all frothed up between shearings

What a way with words, I like it.

Oh, and yes, you are right, they don't want Roe v. Wade overturned.

[zanne]

2. The pro-life movement revitalized the Republican Party.

Pro-lifers are Bush's base. If Roe v Wade is overturned, he'll lose his little soldiers. There are alot of one-issue voters who voted for Bush. Most of them were pro-life, and won't be inclined to vote anymore.

[NoodleBoy]

6. that didn't stop Reagan from nominating a pro-choice justice to the SC

despite his babbling about all that stuff, and instead of abandoning him his base wishes he was still President.

[Little-Jen]

18. Well, only one out of the three Justices

he appointed were anti-Roe, his (Scalia). Bork would have voted down Roe, but he wasn't confirmed, and instead Kennedy was nominated, a moderate who is pro-Roe.

[Arugula Latte]

3. They NEED abortion

That's their issue to rail against. That's how they raise lots of $. That's the straw man. If that goes, they're screwed, and they know it.

[zanne]

9. I agree completely.

Abortion built Bush's base and the mega-churches. Without the crusade, they're sunk.

[uncertainty1999]

21. I do not think 'abortion' is necessary for the right-wingers to survive...

Without abortion, they will just turn their issues to other things, like religion in public schools, pushing back reforms that have made the workplace hospitable to women, etc. -- maybe even divorce -- not to mention gay people.

[zanne]

22. I think abortion is the right wing's bread and butter...

Pro-Lifers are a huge segment of their donor base, plus they're a direct link to all the fundie churches the neocons rely on to get their message across. Gay rights, prayer in schools, etc. will only attract the fringe groups. Abortion is their ace-in-the-hole. If that goes, they go.

[Inland]

5. Both sides agree Bush is lying to SOMEBODY

by using a stealth candidate and pretending that he doesn't know how she will rule.

Bush sends signals and code to the right that he's on their side, while refusing to say the same to the public.

The right has always assumed that Bush had to be duplicitous to get his agenda past the majority. But now they are wondering: how do we know which people he's lying to? It's a pretty elemental fact that a person who lies isn't trustworthy, but the christians are just figuring it out.

Read today's NYT article in the Comment section on the Bush code failing to reach right wingers.

[peacebird]

7. the repukes talk "Culture of Life" but they want Roe v Wade - it keeps

their base hot to vote....

[Warren DeMontague]

8. The GOP is damned if they do, damned if they don't at this point

all the "left behind" far right loonies have been promised this as the holy frikkin' grail for years and years, along with the implication that it would magically get women out of the workforce, prevent "those people" from having sex, cause their teenagers to stop getting their tongues pierced, and bring the country back to the mythical, Halcyon days of the 1950s.

On the other hand, lots of so-called "fiscal conservatives" bought into the Bush deal in 2000 and 2004 with arguments like "he's not REALLY going to overturn Roe v. Wade".. Of course, his shameless pandering to the worst elements of the religious right at nearly every turn had to give some of those folks pause. But nevertheless, they make up a significant portion of the GOP (and an even more significant portion of the FINANCIAL base of the GOP) and if Roe is actually overturned, they will not be pleased.

[lectrobyte]

24. fiscal conservatives -- they must be so proud now.

[wakeme2008]

10. I have posted this before and will again I am sure

Right to Lifers ---- single biggest single issue Repug voting block

Right to Lifers ---- Donate tons of money in small amounts to the Repugs.

Right to Lifers ---- Can be depended on for being Repug foot soldiers around election time.


Why would the leaders of the Repug pary want to overturn RvW

[ruggerson]

13. Well, here's my question

Repubs have used the anti choice crowd since Reagan made the deal with the devil (Pat Robertson and Falwell) back in 1980.

So it's been twenty five years and Republicans have appointed SEVEN justices in that time frame.

And Roe is still the law of the land.

Might we be witnessing the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back?

If Roberts and Miers turn out to be respecters of Stare Decisis and vote to uphold the major points of Roe, doesn't the Republican coalition crumble because the religious rightwingers will finally realize they have been made fools of?

And if Roberts and Miers vote to overturn Roe, doesn't the Republican coalition crumble because there will be no incentive for the anti choice crowd to vote Republican and the wedge issue of abortion becomes Democratic property?

Aren't Bush and Co. in a damned if you do, damned if you don't corner?

[wakeme2008]

20. My Answer which is a question....

What will Fox tell them????????

[MadAsHell]

11. In Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter in Kansas?" ...

He posed the same kind of question and believes the answer is yes.

The powers-that-be on the right want this issue and others like it. They search out issues they can rail against but they can't really do anything about.

Besides to overturn R v W, the court would have to basically say that a citizen does not have a privacy right. How long do think the Repub majority would hold together with the Libertarian right screaming at the top of its lungs?

By the way, I think privacy rights have to be cornerstone of upcoming Democratic campaigns.

[rzemanfl]

14. * doesn't know how to button his own shirt. He is clueless, the

question is what his handlers want. They want money, the could care less about anything else.

[Ksec]

15. I think he "doesnt" want to take roe v wade down

Neither do most repukes. They just use that issue to gain votes . They whore abortion like a cheap ten dollar hooker

[Coastie for Truth]

17. RTLers are the RW infantry

Between the National College Republicans and the RTL Churches--

* Training camp for campaign workers
* Minor league for candidates and for campaign leadership
* E-mail lists for the Grover Norquist e-mail fund raisers
* Cheering crowds at rallies
* Guaranteed voting bloc for the GOP

Stem cell research, Ten Commandments, Intelligent Design, homophobia do not have the "simplicity" or "crowd appeal" that Roe does.

Roe is the glue that holds "NEW" Republican base (which is really the "OLD" New Deal Dem Base) together.

A good discussion is in What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank.

[Little-Jen]

19. I don't know how I feel about this

On one hand, I agree with you. On the other, I see anti-abortionists an no stoping if Roe is overturned. Thay will probably work hard to see that it doesn't happen again, and also pus each state to ban abortion. They also could puch the SC to declair a fetus a person, so every abortion nationwide is outlawed.

[intheflow]

23. 1 million marched for repro rights in 4/2004. 1/2 mill. in DC last month

against the war. He needs to hold on to all the center he can.

I still don't trust Miers, though. Either way, whether she's pledged to him that she would overturn Roe or that she wouldn't, once she's on the court she's a loose cannon, bound to piss someone off, and I can't help thinking in the end, it'd be the left.