Life of the Party

The Potential Impact of Pro-Life Voters on the Washington U.S. Senate Race

These were my opening remarks at the Life of the Party forum on Friday night, the night before the caucus. U.S. Senate Candidates participating were: Art Coday, Rodney Reiger, Craig Williams and Paul Akers. Also, Clint Didier was represented by his campaign manager, Chuck Beck. Candidates in the race who declined to participate: Chris Widener, Sean Salazar and Don Benton. The candidates were asked the tough questions about how they plan to restore the unalienable right to life endowed to us by our Creator, and guaranteed by our Declaration of Independence. Please feel free to share this with other pro-lifers.

Tonight I want to welcome you to the first Life of the Party U.S. Senate Candidate Forum. Similar to the Values Voters Presidential Debates of 2008, it is our un-hidden agenda, through this forum, to advance our cause in Washington State’s 2010 Senate Republican Contest. We want to know where the candidates stand and we want them to know... that we want to know. We believe this forum and our videos of it may be the primary vetting mechanism for this issue --for this office-- this year.

Since the landmark candidacy of Ronald Reagan changed the face of American Politics in 1980, when he unashamedly asserted the moral superiority of the pro-life position and resoundingly defeated Jimmy Carter in debate, the human rights of the preborn child have slowly advanced in the American conscience.

What was once belittled as a sectarian religious quirk of ultra-orthodox Catholics is now the majority opinion of Americans.

A strong majority of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong. Only a tiny minority believe it should be unrestricted by government… most of whom seem to actually be IN government, unfortunately.

The pro-life movement has sprung up like a giant field of wheat, awakening to the brilliant sun of the great plains of America’s heartland. The shining light of truth has slowly won the hearts and minds of our countrymen. But while those fields are white unto harvest, the political laborers have been few.

Though it has been embedded in the very foundation of our Republic, the Unalienable Right to Life, with which Americans, indeed, the whole human family has been endowed by our Creator, is treated like a shameful step-child by the political class.

While NOW, NARAL, and Planned Parenthood have dug their talons into the very heart of the Democratic Party, demanding and getting more and more radical legislation and more and more radical candidates, The Republican Party has

Americans are Increasingly More Pro-life, Why Aren't Our Politicans?

Last year, for the first time since Gallup had been asking the question, a majority of Americans polled said they were "pro-life" on the issue of abortion.  A slight majority (51%), but a majority, nonetheless.

Now, a Marist survey finds that when breaking down the polling by generation, younger Americans are pro-life by a much wider margin.  From Life News:

Millennials, those young Americans between the ages of 18-29, have 59 percent of their generation saying abortion is morally wrong. Members of Generation X (30-44 years of age) say abortion is morally wrong at a 60% clip.

But even older Americans by a large majority feel the same.  "More than 6 in 10 of the Greatest Generation (those 65+)," the survey reports.

It is the Baby Boomer generation that brings the overall percentage down. 

Baby Boomers (those aged 45-64) are the least pro-life, with 51 percent saying abortion is "morally wrong."

But even among the "least pro-life" generation, still a majority are pro-life.  This is great news for preborn children if our politicians will only beging representing the majority view of Americans.  Of course, they never really needed to wait for the majority opinion to do what's right. 

Personhood, Unalienable Rights and States' Rights

Update: Links fixed, now working.

The best way to fight F.O.C.A., stop settling for state regulations on abortion and truly restore the unalienable Right to Life for pre-born children, and trump any federal legislation that seeks to undermine a state's right and duty to protect the unalienable rights of persons.

North Dakota Personhood Amendment Passes, First in U.S. History

Seven States Have Launched Efforts for Personhood Rights for Pre-Born -- Even  More Expected in 2009 

Welcome New Readers

Glad you're here.  Please take a look at the Welcome Page, where you will find the purpose of this website stated in two posts, when it was launched in September of 2006:

1) To inform pro-lifers in Washington State of where the candidates stand on the pro-life issues, early enough in the campaign season, that you aren't duped into supporting the establishment's choice, rather than letting them hear from you who your choice is in the primary and 2) To make the case to the Republican Party as a whole, that we must stand up for the unalienable Right to Life because it is a winning issue when presented correctly, but most of all, because it is the right thing to do! 

Life of the Party, since its launching, has existed through one full even year political season, when we elect legislative and executive offices for state and federal level and announced a statewide list of endorsements based on objective criteria: their stated support of the protection of the Right to Life, from conception to natural death, without discrimination of any kind (such as rape, incest, life or health of the mother, the percieved need to destroy a human life for cells to cure another's disease, etc.).  Any interested Republican who does not see their favorite candidate(s) listed on the endorsement list, should know that either a) the candidate chose not to answer the survey of Human Life of WA or the RNC for Life or b) they answered the survey and did not meet the objective criteria for a Life of the Party endorsement.

As the author of this blog, I reserve the right to make this material public for all of WA voters and interested readers from outside of WA as well, particularly for pro-life Republicans and pro-lifers in general, to make informed choices.  At times, there may be candidates that I personally support that fall slightly short of an endorsement here, based on my close discernment and evaluation of the candidate to be trustworthy and their openness to consider the points I make here, as well as their position on other important issues.  An endorsement from Life of the Party is not automatic for all Republican candidates, no matter how popular they may be among Republican leaders and their followers or the media.

Of Abstinence and Third Party Voting

I thought this combox discussion was worth a post here.  It's like many others around the Catholic blogosphere these days. 

Mark Shea has the debate going among his pro-life Catholic readers about his decision to not support McCain.  (He's not supporting Obama either).  Because:

Empty rhetoric ain't enough. Prolifers who piss away their commitment to human life while shilling for the GOP guy who makes empty promises he does not keep will wind up screwed.

So in his Shea style sarcasm, he advises:

Vote for the Doomed Quixotic Third Party guy of your choice, but vote!

One hopeless McCain defender wonders,

Why vote for a "doomed quixotic third party guy"?  The result will be EXACTLY the same as if you don't vote at all.

Several others echoed this attitude. 

One astute commenter had this to say:

The only way to force the GOP back to conservatism is present them with a constituency that might vote for them if they're conservative. A 3rd party candidate vote can help that. Not voting won't.

Here is my response:

Many believe this is a battle for the presidency for the next 4-8 years, and that Obama will be a disaster, so we must vote for McCain.

But there's an even bigger battle with much more at stake. It's the battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Why is the battle for one party bigger than the battle for the presidency? Because in order to elect leaders with solid Judeo-Christian and Constitutional principles, we must be able to form a coalition; a grassroots organization that will nominate and support such candidates. An organization that will form such individuals to be future leaders. It's called a political party. We must have at least one of them.

The Republican Party is in disarray right now. The coalition has fallen apart. The party faithful have forgotten, or compromised what they once stood for in order to make sure the Democrats don't win. For the last 6-8 years, they've given up their principles for power (winning). And they're just about left with neither. Witness the '06 elections. Party leaders have systematically moved us away from our principles.

Being a party activist, I can tell you that John McCain was--among the grassroots Republicans--virtually NOBODY'S first choice. So how did we get him as our nominee? There's a very complicated answer to that, but let's just say that the system was so manipulated to favor his candidacy by his friends within the leadership and that principled conservatives need to flood the party organization if we are ever to have it stand on principle again. We need to get in there and change how things are done.

Feeding this beast will only make it bigger.

I'm not telling anyone what to do in this election. I'm just saying that those of you who believe we must vote for McCain need to take into account the bigger picture and accept that all of us who truly want to protect life (whether we vote for McCain or not), are following our consciences as it has been formed. Do not blame abstainers or third party voters for an Obama win. Blame the GOP leadership. But also, know that nothing happens outside of God's Providence. If Obama wins, and he is the disaster that everyone fears, we need to accept the years that we will endure of his presidency as discipline from God. In fact, either way, this is true. In fact, let's pray for each of their conversions. One is just as likely as the other.

Who Does He Think He's Foolin'?

Scroll down for updates.

From Rich Lowry at The Corner:

NR has learned that the McCain campaign has been calling key state GOP officials around the country the last couple of days and sounding them out about the consequences of a pro-choice VP pick. The campaign is asking about the reaction of conservative grass-roots activists to such a pick and whether a pro-choicer can be sold to them. This is an indication that the McCain campaign is serious about the possibility of a pro-choice VP nominee and that McCain leaving the door open to Tom Ridge last week may not have been merely a friendly nod to a longtime supporter. In this scenario, McCain's emphatic pro-life statements Saturday night and his pledge that he'll run a "pro-life administration" would have been partly an attempt to reassure conservatives in the event of a pro-choice pick. Here is NR's take today on why going with a pro-choicer would be a mistake for McCain.

H/T: Save the GOP

Let's see.  Here's a sampling since he first floated the idea:

A Catholic guy from swing state Ohio and his blogging friends.

Michelle Malkin

Phyllis Schlafly

Free Republic

Creative Minority Report

Regular Guy, Paul

Feddie at Southern Appeal, and founder of Catholics Against Rudy,  where that "Mission Accomplished" Sign really bugs me.

And finally, someone who gets the whole picture and doesn't have such a short memory.  It's worth quoting:

Maybe if McCain had not been pushed on us in the first place, and maybe if pro-lifers had not been urged to support McCain in the primaries, we would not be in this situation.

Compare -- "John McCain's character, courage, record, and life experience make him the best candidate of either party to meet today's challenges . . . Senator John McCain has a long-standing pro-life record. What’s more, he has the ability to secure the Republican nomination and to prevail against any Democrat nominee, each of which is strongly pro-abortion . . . Here is the way we thought about our decision. It was made at the intersection of three issues: defense of the unborn, defense of our nation from the Islamic terrorists, and electability. When these issues are taken into consideration together, we believe there is no candidate who is better than John McCain. We urge all pro-lifers to consider John McCain in precisely this way."
--Two Catholic Pro-Life Advocates Endorse John McCain's GOP Presidential Bid

With -- "Right now McCain is skating on the thinnest of ice. At best, the election is tied. In many polls, he is 4-5 points down. He has yet to crack 45 percent in any national poll and is behind in key states. At worst, he is facing a blowout. Now is not the time to pussyfoot around with a guy like Tom Ridge. . . . McCain is already suspect among social conservatives. And picking a pro-choicer will have the further effect of cooling whatever ardor he has been able to gin up among them mostly because of the fear of Obama. Social conservatives are largely not for McCain, they are against Obama. A lack of enthusiasm among McCain supporters could spell disaster for him come Election Day. . . . At the moment, McCain can expect at least tepid support among faithful Catholics, those who go to Mass at least once a week and who support the teachings of the Church on core issues like abortion. He needs this group to win the election. He is putting them in an untenable position if he decides to pick Ridge . . ."
--Defeat and Disaster if McCain Picks a Pro-Choice Catholic

We are in the situation that the second writer describes largely because of what the first writer and others like him were enthusiastically saying about McCain in the primaries, even though most other pro-lifers were very suspicious of McCain.

But guess what, the second writer and first writer are the exact same person.

This annoys me to no end. If John "most electable" McCain had not been kept afloat by such endorsements when his campaign was floundering, we might have a different nominee. A better nominee. A truly authentic and enthusiastically pro-life nominee, and not merely some guy who has happened to cast a few Senate votes on the pro-life side.

UPDATE: Could it be McCain-Giuliani?!?!?!  I wouldn't put it past him, would you?  Some believe, this might be the campaign floating his name out there to make the real veep choice seem more palatable to pro-lifers.  That's possible.  On the other hand, the campaign has already hired Rudy's staffer as the unnamed veep's communication director. 

An Invitation to "The LIFE of Party" Party

Please join Phyllis Schlafly
and
The Republican National Coalition for Life
at the
2008 Republican National Convention
for
 
A cocktail reception
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The Crowne Plaza Hotel
11 East Kellogg Boulevard
St. Paul, Minnesota
Honoring
The Honorable Sarah Palin
Governor of Alaska

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is a pro-life, pro-family, conservative star with the talent, energy, and family support necessary to carry out common sense policies to benefit her State and the nation as a whole. She has been described as the most popular Governor in America.

Governor Palin is married to her high-school sweetheart Todd Palin. They are the parents of five children, Track, 18, who is currently serving in the United States Army; Bristol, 17; Willow, 13; Piper, 6; and Trig, 4 months. When Trig, who was diagnosed in-utero with Down Syndrome, was born in April, Governor Palin said in a statement,

"Trig is beautiful and already adored by us." "We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives." "We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

Governor Palin is a former mayor and beauty queen. Today she is a devoted wife and mother who puts life first, and she is a political figure who not only talks-the-talk, but walks-the-walk.
Deadline for reservations is August 26, 2008
Make your reservation today!
For more information contact:

Minnesota: 1-651-464-3577 — RNC for Life phone: 1-800-726-8096 — info@rnclife.org

Words of Wisdom for Dino

In response to my plea last week, the Tell Dino website has had comments pooring in from readers here who believe that Dino ought to take a more clear and forthright stand against abortion.  Most of them are citizens of Washington State, but Dino also heard from Catherine Marshall the wife of Bob Marshall, a Virginia State Senator who has sucessfully campaigned as a 100% pro-lifer, and who launched an impressive campaign earlier this year against two big names, and came within a hair of defeating a former Republican Governor for the nomination to defeat the Democrat incumbent, without the help of the party machine:

My husband is a state legislator from Northern Virginia who has won 9 elections in a district that has nearly doubled in size since he was first elected in 1991.  He is unabashedly 100% pro-life, including against abortion in cases of life, rape and incest.  After each election he gets letters from voters who disagree with him on abortion, but who vote for him for other reasons such as integrity, working for his constituents, etc.  The Republican "experts" who suggest pro-life candidates cannot win if they express their pro-life views, fail to recognize that those who want to keep abortion legal are not single issue voters as are pro-life voters. Further, pro-lifers are super dedicated campaigners who work day and night for candidates who shares their beliefs.  This fact was again proven by my husband's recent close race (lost by .63% -- less than 1%) for the US Senate nomination in a state-wide Convention against a former Govenor, Attorney General and Republican National Chairman.  My husband was also outspent 11-1 and had months less to campaign due to his duties in the General Assembly!

I urge you to be firm about your pro-life commitment that "all men are CREATED (not born) equal" and endowed by their Creator with "life."  Take the side of the woman in crisis - she deserves better than abortion which leaves the man scott free and the woman with a lifetime of regrets. Ask how anyone in their right mind could condone partial birth infanticide/abortion?  Stand up, and voters will stand for you! 

Imagine what Dino could do with the help of the party machine if he were to take a stand like Bob Marshall!  He already has their help.  The GOP would have a PR disaster on their hands if they were to begin withdrawing support once Dino started taking a strong stand against abortion.  And like Mrs. Marshall says, even folks who disagree with him on abortion, will support him anyway (so long as it's not their only issue), because of his integrity and committment to representing them.   

By the way, it's not too late for you to tell Dino what you think. 

We Need This Man In Congress

Have you heard anyone make it more clear, or present the legislative solution in this way?  Go to Michael's website and find out more. 

Help Me Help Dino

Yesterday, I posted a link to the recent interview that Dino did with King 5's Allen Schauffler and Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman.  In that interview, Postman cornered Dino on the abortion issue and the "Plan B" issue (the right of pharmacists to object to dispensing drugs that violate their conscience).  Postman framed his question by pointing out that these are issues Dino doesn't like to talk about and asked, "aren't the voters...entitled to ask...these questions...and entitled to know where you stand?"  Unfortunately, Dino continued to dodge, and would only give his personal moral conviction as a devout Roman Catholic, but insisted that his job as Governor wouldn't have much to do with this issue.  It would be "out of his control," he said.

Dino is obviously