Stem-cell research splits US Republicans

[ProSense]

Democrats should never become complacent, but here is real division:

Stem-cell research splits US Republicans

By: John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:17 PM ET

(Pic)- An ampoule containing a medium for stem cell storage. The emotional debate over embryonic stem-cell research has sharply split the Republican Party and could become a prominent election-year issue, with key Senate races in Missouri and Maryland emerging as early battlegrounds. REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The emotional debate over embryonic stem-cell research has sharply split the Republican Party and could become a prominent election-year issue, with key U.S. Senate races in Missouri and Maryland emerging as early battlegrounds.

The Republican rift pits religious conservatives and abortion foes who oppose the research on moral grounds against supporters who tout its potential benefits in fighting diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

With polls showing large majorities of Americans backing stem-cell research, some Republican candidates find themselves stuck in the middle. Democrats, who largely support the research, are eager to take advantage of their quandary.

more...

http://maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=13415

[rhino47]

1. Can you saw wedge issue?

I hope they are going to keep banging away at stem cell.I did a posting awhile back on what the best wedge issue would be in 06.The majority said stem cell.

[blondeatlast]

6. This is an issue that can swing moderate fence-sitters our way.

It's not at all a difficult issue to grasp--trash the cells or allow them to cure devastating illness or injury?

Gee, let me think hard on that one a while... :sarcasm:

[NoFederales]

8. A Major Issue among many

NoFederales

[stray cat]

2. Better to destroy embryonic cells then to use them to save people

Bush has a crazy position. They are already being destroyed instead of permanantly stored on a daily basis. If Bush wants to be consistent he must outlaw their destruction and force fertility companies to pay for their storage until they are adopted (ie. the next million years plus)

[ProSense]

3. More GOP troubles -- health plan

February 19, 2006

Drug Plan's Start May Imperil G.O.P.'s Grip on Older Voters

By ROBIN TONER

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 — Older voters, a critical component of Republican Congressional victories for more than a decade, could end up being a major vulnerability for the party in this year's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties. Paradoxically, one reason is the new Medicare drug benefit, which was intended to cement their loyalty.

During next week's Congressional recess, Democrats are set to begin a major new campaign to highlight what Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, describes as "this disastrous Republican Medicare prescription drug plan."

Democratic incumbents and challengers plan nearly 100 public forums around the country, armed with briefing books and talking points on a law that, party leaders assert, "was written by and for big drug companies and H.M.O.'s, not American families."

Recognizing the widespread criticism of the new drug program, Republican senators met in a closed session with administration officials this week to discuss the rocky rollout of the plan and prepare for questions back home.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/politics/19older.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[ProSense]

4. New anti-Burns ad appears (for supporting prescription drug plan)

New anti-Burns ad appears

By GWEN FLORIO
Tribune Capitol Bureau

The Montana Legacy Fund, an independent political organization, is running a new anti-Conrad Burns ad on its Web site.

The ad takes Burns, a Republican senator up for re-election this year, to task for his recent vote to support cuts in Medicare and Medicaid spending.

It features two elderly people looking at their bills and prescription bottles, while one says, "OK, our bills are paid. Let's see what's left over for prescriptions."

A voice-over demands that Burns "explain why you voted for cut to Medicare and Medicaid — and you turn around and say you voted for Montana seniors?" Then it urges viewers to "help him remember Montana comes first."

more...

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060220/NEWS01/602200308/1002

[ProSense]

5. Stem cell furor splits Missourians

Stem cell furor splits Missourians

As a culturally conservative state argues over a possible vote on embryonic research, a student paralyzed by injury is in the thick of the battle

By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
Published February 28, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The way Jeff McCaffrey figured it, he would graduate with an officer's commission from the Air Force Academy this spring and immediately prepare to join the fight in Iraq.

Snip…

But the fight--specifically, the opportunity for McCaffrey to join one--survived. Today the 22-year-old college business major is in the thick of an emotionally charged statewide battle over embryonic stem cell research, and the outcome could have national implications.

Quest to create a felony

In culturally conservative Missouri, where the Republican-controlled legislature has been trying for years to make embryonic stem cell research a felony, a coalition of business, research and medical organizations is expected to collect enough signatures to ask voters in November whether Missouri should be the first state to protect such research in the state constitution.

Snip….

Politically, all hell has broken loose over the issue in Missouri because the Hatfield and McCoy-type divisions that have defined this state's politics for generations have been effectively blurred. Republicans are split between ardent anti-abortion activists who say this research involves the killing of human embryos and old-line business interests who want to make Kansas City and St. Louis into centers for biomedical research.

[sofa king]

7. Saint Ronnie is DEAD!

Just a friendly little reminder to the knuckle-dragging, bible thumping, drooling poltroons who don't want to disturb the tiny little Jesus dancing around in each of their cells: stem cell research might have saved Ronald Reagan's minimal intellect, but it won't bring him back from the grave.

But here's a silver lining: thanks to Saint Ronnie's vision of perpetual war, minimal or no healthcare, curtailed environmental protections, and no social safety net, you guys will be joining Saint Ronnie sooner than you may think.

[blondeatlast]

9. Not to mention, the cells that could have saved him are dead now too.

So good to know those little baby Jesuses are cozy in the trash now...

:sarcasm: for any lurking fCreeps.

[NJmaverick]

10. These are the topics that the Dems

Need to make key in the 2006 elections!