For GOP, politics and power trump parents' Alzheimer's, kids' diabetes

[DeepModem Mom]

Yet they call themselves "pro-life."

TIME: The Republicans' Stem-Cell Gamble
The Senate passes a bill to expand embryonic stem-cell research, President Bush prepares to veto it - and GOP leaders are hoping the whole fight is over fast
By MASSIMO CALABRESI/WASHINGTON
Posted Tuesday, Jul. 18, 2006

The Senate's passage today of a bill that would expand federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research will be a short-lived victory for supporters. Bush plans to veto the bill later this week, and the Republican-led House, according to House Majority leader John Boehner, will uphold the veto. The doomed bill is more than just another round of conservative vs. moderate battling in the GOP. It is the latest bet in a high-stakes gamble pitting the Republicans' short-term electoral tactics against their long-term strategy of building a permanent majority.

Ahead of a busy campaign season, Congressional Republicans this summer are advancing so-called values issues like Constitutional amendments banning flag burning and gay marriage, bills to grant fetus's rights, and a statute "protecting" the pledge of allegiance, in the hopes of pleasing the slice of Americans that care most fervently about these causes and vote on them. That may drive up turnout for the Republicans this fall. But long-term party growth can't be found among those voters. Republican leaders have declared suburbanites and Hispanics to be key constituencies that need to be cultivated for the party's long-term health. But both groups oppose key elements of the GOP's conservative agenda.

Only around one-fifth of Americans oppose federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, for example. But they are, by and large, active Republican base voters who are already alienated and threatening to withhold support from Republicans this fall. The majority of suburban voters support the promise of stem cell research that might cure their parents' Alzheimer's disease or their kids' diabetes. The measure that passed today would be popular with them; its expected failure will please the base at their expense....

***

The Republican leadership is aware of the conflict between the short and long-term interests of the party and is doing what it can to diminish the cost. On stem cells, for example, the tactic is to get the battle over with as soon as possible. The GOP leadership chose the gap between the July 4th and August recesses as a low-visibility moment for the vote and compressed the time the voting would take. Bush's veto, and the expected House failure to override it, will come within days and will soon have been replaced by other issues. "It'll all be over in 72 hours," says one top GOP aide, "It'll be like a summer storm." At least that's the plan.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1216174,00.html?cnn=yes

[Skittles]

1. I am sick of religious FREAKS being pandered to

let's get these clowns OUT OF OFFICE