Sorry, Grad School calls.
I could write about so many different things, but I thought in light of the recent issue of contraceptives and the Catholic Church I would talk about that.
First off, wow, if you would have said that contraceptives would have been an issue in 2012 I would have said you were crazy. But, the Administration obviously mishandled this one. That being said, Republicans aren't going to have a slam dunk in terms of this issue.
If Republicans even mention the word "contraception" during this election, they are going to loose on this issue. Conservatives have to wake up to the fact that contraceptives are probably the most popular form of birth control in this country. There are only two segments of society that don't use them. Deeply religious Christians and Jews (possibly Muslim's too, I'm not sure) and young people who should be using them. If the GOP makes this an issue about birth control, they are going to loose and you can already tell that the Democratic playbook will be to frame the issue as Republican's being in favor of denying women birth control. All in all, I think this was probably a good move on the part of the Democrats.
While I think their bringing up the issue of how many Catholics don't hold to the tenants of Catholicism in terms of contraceptives is a really stupid strategy and will most certainly hurt the Democrat Catholic vote, in the end Democrats will come out ahead on this issue. Why do I say that you ask? Because the winning issue for Republicans is to bring up the fact that it is outrageous for the government to force a religious organization to go against the teachings of their faith (and the compromise is a joke by the way), when the debate is between that and denying women "reproductive rights", the later argument wins.
At the end of the day, the lesson that Republicans have got to learn is that they cannot run Rick Santorum as their candidate. I like Rick. I admire his willingness to give no-nonsense answers to questions. You have no doubt on his view on social issues because he absolutely wears them on his sleeve. You also don't have to question his views on the constitutionality of the Griswold case which by the way is in keeping with the vast majority of Republicans and conservatives alike. For this reason, he would make an outstanding law professor. But, he isn't running to be a law professor, he's running to be the Republican Party's nominee for President in an election year where they have a decent chance of winning back the White House. Talking about your own personal views on birth control (which judging by the number of children that Mitt Romney has is probably not so much different from Rick's) and condemning the Griswold decision which has made the use of contraceptives essentially a right in the United States is nothing more than political suicide. Undoubtedly, it would make for an interesting and passionate general election campaign, but would result in another 4 years of Democratic rule. Republicans really need to ask themselves if this is the outcome they truly want.
I could write about so many different things, but I thought in light of the recent issue of contraceptives and the Catholic Church I would talk about that.
First off, wow, if you would have said that contraceptives would have been an issue in 2012 I would have said you were crazy. But, the Administration obviously mishandled this one. That being said, Republicans aren't going to have a slam dunk in terms of this issue.
If Republicans even mention the word "contraception" during this election, they are going to loose on this issue. Conservatives have to wake up to the fact that contraceptives are probably the most popular form of birth control in this country. There are only two segments of society that don't use them. Deeply religious Christians and Jews (possibly Muslim's too, I'm not sure) and young people who should be using them. If the GOP makes this an issue about birth control, they are going to loose and you can already tell that the Democratic playbook will be to frame the issue as Republican's being in favor of denying women birth control. All in all, I think this was probably a good move on the part of the Democrats.
While I think their bringing up the issue of how many Catholics don't hold to the tenants of Catholicism in terms of contraceptives is a really stupid strategy and will most certainly hurt the Democrat Catholic vote, in the end Democrats will come out ahead on this issue. Why do I say that you ask? Because the winning issue for Republicans is to bring up the fact that it is outrageous for the government to force a religious organization to go against the teachings of their faith (and the compromise is a joke by the way), when the debate is between that and denying women "reproductive rights", the later argument wins.
At the end of the day, the lesson that Republicans have got to learn is that they cannot run Rick Santorum as their candidate. I like Rick. I admire his willingness to give no-nonsense answers to questions. You have no doubt on his view on social issues because he absolutely wears them on his sleeve. You also don't have to question his views on the constitutionality of the Griswold case which by the way is in keeping with the vast majority of Republicans and conservatives alike. For this reason, he would make an outstanding law professor. But, he isn't running to be a law professor, he's running to be the Republican Party's nominee for President in an election year where they have a decent chance of winning back the White House. Talking about your own personal views on birth control (which judging by the number of children that Mitt Romney has is probably not so much different from Rick's) and condemning the Griswold decision which has made the use of contraceptives essentially a right in the United States is nothing more than political suicide. Undoubtedly, it would make for an interesting and passionate general election campaign, but would result in another 4 years of Democratic rule. Republicans really need to ask themselves if this is the outcome they truly want.
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