An intriguing thought from NRO’s Jay Nordlinger:

Abortion is said to be one of the biggest issues in the country. An issue that roils the country. And it is. But presidential nominees are strangely silent about it — election after election after election.

I know why the Republicans — the pro-lifers — are silent: They believe that abortion is a losing issue. (Rather, that the pro-life position is a losing one.) So they say something mild, indirect, and brief — like, “Every child should be welcomed in life and protected in law.”

But why are the Democrats silent? Why is the Democratic nominee silent on abortion, every four years? If the pro-choice position is such a winning one, why not trumpet it? I have a hunch about the Democrats’ reticence: I think the smart ones believe that the pro-choice position is not such a winning one. And I think they’re right.

Barack Obama is a radical on abortion — an extremist. He is for total abortion on demand. He voted against the Born Alive Act. (Of course, this separates him from no other mainstream Democrat . . .)

Couldn’t McCain make political hay out of this? Do you think it would hurt? Besides, if he’s going to lose — as so many people think he is — shouldn’t he do so while saying something important?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Abortion, Democrats 2008, Republicans 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.