Here we go again.  Michelle Malkin is aghast that John McCain might pick a pro-choice running mate.  John McCain has been pro-choice, sometimes very vocally so.   Obama is extremely pro-choice.   For a lot of people, that will be a defining issue.  Unless of course, McCain picks a running mate that is pro-choice and/or Obama picks a mate that is pro-life.

The debate over this issue is so amazingly misguided it boggles me.

The reason why is very simple.  The President directly has no impact on the issue.  None whatsoever.  Clinton opposed Roe v Wade, but could do nothing about it.  Bush supported Roe v Wade but saw elements of it chipped away.  So, it’s really not an issue that means anything.

The bigger issue is what a president can do to affect the issue of abortion.  Their legal views over-ride their individual views on abortion.  The types of Surpreme Court judges they appoint will trump their personal views.  If they appoint liberal judges, it doesn’t matter if they are pro-life.  If they appoint conservative judgtes, it doesn’t matter if they are pro-life.  And, to make the abortion angle a little more confusing, if they appoint a truly legally conservative judge, that judge would be against Roe v Wade as well.

Huh you say?  Yeah, I say.  A truly legally conservative judge would recognize the Constitution trumps all social issues and rule that the federal government has no stake in his issue at all.  It is an issue left up to each state to decide if they so choose.

Now, you starting to get an idea why I call this site “Rebel Republicans”?  This is why a lot of true Republicans consider themselves Libertarians.  If you read the Party platform of 1856, you’ll understand why everyone is so confused at this time.

To make myself clear, abortion is not a national party issue.  States rights is.  McCain, if he’s willing to buck the neo-cons and go with a pro-choice mate, should be setting that stage by stressing that the over-riding value of the Republican Party is states’ rights and therefore he’s not going to allow any social issue to be a litmus test.

When the focus is shifted, the Republican Party can more easily claim it’s a party for everyone instead of the neo-con clique it became in the 80’s.

Technorati Tags: abortion, john mccain, libertarian, Michelle Malkin, neo-con, party platform, republican, running mate, weekly standard

Posted on August 14th, 2008 by anthony
Filed under: party platform