I think Harry Reid’s doing a good job, but he’s not pro-choice, and neither are several other candidates that the Democratic party has supported recently. Stop assuming NARAL and other women’s groups are dumb and don’t get political strategy – we get that y’all really think you can pick up the somehow more valuable white male values voter by selling us out and not only are we pissed about it, we think it’s bad strategy that does nothing to buildi a progressive majority.

What NARAL and its supporters seems to not understand is that the era of single issue selfishness is over.

If they do not understand that, then maybe the era of single-issue selfishness isn’t over. Andrea seems peeved that her issue isn’t being given sufficient attention. The Democratic party has to walk a fine line… because I think there are a lot of single-issue Democrat voters. You have your anti-war people, your abortion-rights-for-women people, your environment people, your social programs people, etc. Even though they might all agree on a lot of things, there are many of them who would be instantly turned off if for a moment they sensed that their issue wasn’t of vital importance to the Democratic party.

Oliver, you’re rather a melting pot of Democratic ideals, but many Dems aren’t. Asking people last year why they were going to vote for Kerry, I got a lot of one-line answers. “Abortion.” “The War in Iraq.” “Education.” “The Environment.” Etc. These people certainly had other reasons… but if their pet issue isn’t given appropriate attention, you might not be able to count on their vote.

Regarding the NARAL ad… it was dishonest. Shoddy work, all around. Denouncing dishonest hackery isn’t a move to the right, it’s a move towards a more sane political dialog.

Oliver, NARAL and feminists don’t care. Democrats will never win us over by telling us that they don’t think our issues are important but we should trust them. I don’t trust anyone who says that I’m not important to them.

Call me cynical, but I don’t believe for a second that modern-day Democrats would think twice about selling out a constituency or interest group for the sake of electoral gain. Not a warm and fuzzy picture of the home team, but there you go. The moment NARAL gives the party reason to take pro-choice constituents for granted, they’ll get shafted. Look at black voters, or unions, over the past decade. Look at how the religious right has been roundly abused by the Republican Party. (When’s that gay-marriage amendment coming? Oh right, never. Chumps. Now keep voting for us.) Parties always pander towards groups that are in danger of defecting; they know they can screw over the loyal core somewhat, so long as there are no consequences. Unless NARAL shows that there are consequences, such as endorsing a pro-choice Republican in a blue state, they’ll get taken for granted. Maybe that’s due to sexism on the part of the Democratic leadership, but mostly it’s just the way coalitions work.

Talking about how the Dems are on ‘our side’ won’t be very persuasive to a person who has already decided they’re not.

In my own case, my congressman Norm Dicks can make the military cash register play Yankee Doodle. As a pacifist, I don’t find this to be a very useful attribute in a congressman.

Combine this with almost everything else that touches our lives, and you have a Democratic Party in a “Roll Over and Play Dead” contest with the Rs.

That’s just my opinion. But I bet when gas reaches $10/gallon you’ll start to hear what I’m saying.