Obama Airs Tough Abortion Ad In Swing States

Politico:

Barack Obama has launched a broadside against John McCain's opposition to abortion rights and moved one of the most divisive issues in modern American politics to the airwaves on a large scale for the first time in this presidential campaign.

Obama's new radio ad, airing widely in at least seven swing states, tells voters McCain "will make abortion illegal." It's airing as McCain courts female voters with the addition of the staunchly anti-abortion governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to his ticket.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[OkieMon]

when you make abortion illegal you really only make it illegal for poor women....women of wealth will always have access to medically safe abortions overseas.

[DoTheMath]

Exactly! That's why the corporate Republicans running for office to pad the pockets of their wealthy peers have never had a problem using abortion as a wedge issue. Abortion laws would never affect the women in their set, who can always afford to get what they want one way or another.

[bbbear]

True. And poor women can always re-invent some jerk with open wire coat hanger and the danger of an agonizing death.

[ABCD]

You have got to see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

POW!

[vinny]

needs concrete examples

[meanguy]

i guess this is a subject that is 'above his pay grade' but not below his standards

[SEQUOIABISON]

The issue basically is do we want women returning to wire hangers?

[barackobama4prez]

God forbid!

[meanguy]

wire hangers? back alleys? ABSOLUTELY NOT! but if we look at tens of millions of abortions performed since roe v wade, and don't see that there's a fundamental problem in our culture and society, we're kidding ourselves

[Tom95134]

Obama's position is that this should be a matter that is between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her God. The Federal Government should stay out of it..

[sydney01]

I think his "above his pay grade" answer shows humility in the face of God, and the Republicans could certainly use some humility.

No one, not one single person can tell you they know when life begins, only God knows that answer. To be smug and condescend as if THEY have God's cheat sheet is pretty blasphemous of the Republican party.

[meanguy]

obama-humility????? that's like paris hilton-chastity

[KingMaker]

Above his paygrade is right. He was talking about God. No man especially the government should a person what to do with their body. They do not have the authority to do so. That is a private decision betwen that person and God.

[meanguy]

so, it's above his paygrade to have an opinion, as a Christian? mighty convenient when you're trying to court the evangelical vote and are trying to be all things to all people

[HerbTee]

You Rethug people are such a$$clowns...really! When Obama mentioned the words "above his pay grade", he was making an obvious reference that he IS NOT God and has absolutely no moral or divine authority to determine when, at what stage or where human life begins...at egg-sperm conception, as a fetus growing in the womb or after live birth! But you Rethugs all talk to God on a regular basis and you all know what He directs for the rest of us, huh?

[meanguy]

no, what he was trying to do was avoid giving a direct answer while couching it in terms he thought evangelicals would fall for

[ShamusNYC]

I believe that the platform of the RNC has a very, very strong stance against abortions - not even in the case of rape or incest

[DoTheMath]

or danger to the life of the mother.

[OlderBudWeiser]

McCain and McTrollop don't give a rats arse about your reproductive rights, they just want to win an election. Energize the base, evangilicals etc. Women have come to far to go backwards. Barefoot and pregnant is not a good thing unless it's what YOU want. This is not the 50's and 60's. We did that one already and moved forward. McC and McP should make vasectomies mandatory and see how that works for them.

[Missmn]

This is a good start because for some reason, a lot of women out there think that McCain is not anti-choice. The Obama campaign needs to focus on the fact that there will be three seats up for grabs on the Supreme Court for the next POTUS to fill.

[OBXartist]

Yes, people seem strangely inclined to give McCain the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it's the equity built up with his POW past but, jeez, that was 40 years ago. We're not talking about the same guy today. Still, many people seem to be operating under the mistaken assumption that McCain is some kind of moderate Republican. He's not. And his VP choice takes his candidacy in the direction of religious extremism.

[OlderBudWeiser]

Religious extremism, Hmmm. Think long and hard on that one. Or does that just mean according to which religion we're talking about. Does this mean if McC should win I will have to change my wardrobe?

Go get 'em Obama!

[bbbear]

Exactly!

[Lvm]

This is great! Take them on head on! Tell the American people that John McCain will have the government in charge of a woman's body. John McCain and his government will make your private family decisions for you. He will make the decision for all women of every age, young and old. He'll be the decider....for women.

[BlueOnBlue]

You can bet if Obama is putting this issue up front, the campaign has some good polling indicating it will help.

That aside, the Republicans have officially become the party of and for anti-choice. The selection of Palin as the VP candidate and the platform adopted by the convention make it clear there is no room in that Party for disagreement on this issue. People like Ridge or Lieberman who think otherwise are just fooling themselves. All other issues, including the protection of the United States, have become secondary to Republicans.

It is supremely ironic to hear them preaching at their convention about bipartisanship or "reaching across the aisle," when they have done everything possible to champion one of the two most divisive issues in our country. The other issue is race and there they have consistently sided with the Southern racists who still can't countenance a black man as President.

This is going to be nasty, but the Republicans have sought this battle. We must now take it to them and appeal to people who believe in tolerance over bigotry, in individual rights rather then the rule of religion.

[MsMontana]

The choice between O and MC C is so utterly clear. If you believe in a woman's right to choose, cast your ballot today and turn the TV off.

[Barbie40]

Will someone run a Mark Foley ad... PLEASE

[Tom95134]

Not yet. Beat them up one issue at a time.

The American public can't handle too many things at once.

[kellygrrrl]

the ReThug whisper campaign is:

"Oh, don't worry about the Abortion issue. It will still be a State decision."

[wedgie]

Ask Clarence Thomas that question.

Bet he doesn't think its a state decision.

**

[Bond007]

I say it again,,, Obama needs to fire the people that design his Ads. The Ads are his weakest game. The people that put this together are not smart at all. They need to define what's wrong with McCains position and not just show Obama's position. Abortion is a tough topic on any platform,,, for or against.
I just don't feel how this is worded. Anyway, get a new Ad team.

[MOregon]

While I do not think that Obama's ads are his "weakest game", I think that he is making a big mistake on this one. There are so many pro-life Democrats, like myself, who are trying to appeal to the wide range of issues issues with those who are sitting on the fence.

The pro-choice people are already voting for Obama and this ad will polarize the rest as it is the one major issue that people passionately disagree with him. And now he has just made it harder to make the appeal. Why not, instead, talk about the Abortion Reduction Act that the party has now embraced which does not take the right to choose away but actually will help to reduce abortions and use that to frame the debate?

[wedgie]

No. There are no pro-life Democrats.

I'm sorry but there are not.

Period.

**

[DoTheMath]

It's about time we started talking about all those other LIVES. Women have lives, too. Now. If you'll take a moment to imagine the case of a woman or girl who is raped and then legally forced to carry and give birth to the offspring of her rapist, you might start to realize that this issue is not quite as simple as "pro-life" suggests.

[teronhussein678]

It's a radio Ad ...

[Tom95134]

A lot of people listen to radio. It's always on when anybody is at home and since some women are still at home most of the day it will be very effective. In addition, placement (during drive-time) will get to the women that work and commute. I suspect that they will followup with a TV ad that is essentially the same.

[LazarusLong]

A lot of people are confused about Mc.Cs' position on abortion. I don't think the O campaign needs to dwell on it but they need to make sure that the voters understand Mc.Cs' real views.

[kellygrrrl]

people need to understand that once they overturn abortion Federally
it will NOT NOT NOT be a State decision anymore.

the ReThugs are trying to confuse on this issue and say that it will remain a State issue

[benne]

Sorry, but it will be a state issue. The Democrats need to make it clear that many states, like my own, already have an anti-abortion law on the books; thus, as soon as Roe is overturned, abortion will be illegal. Also, what ever happened to the discussion of stem cell research?

[Tom95134]

Technically, it will be a State decision but you can bet that the Federal Government will do something to link the availability of some tax funding to whether the State allows abortions. Think the fact that states didn't get Federal Highway Dollars if they didn't support the 55 mph speed limit.

[TheApeMan]

Exactly!
Just like that Democratic Delegate who made the video supporting McCain, who didn't know that he was ANTI-CHOICE.
I would assume there are quite a few women that are voting for McCain that don't realize this, and hopefully this ad should clear that up somewhat

[jcwtts1]

I just heard Morning Joe kill Obama for taking the Pro Choice Anti Choice bait.... I think what people are missing is that Obama can win this thing with pro choice republicans, independent women and democratic women. If McCain were talking about not overturning Roe then Obama might not mention it, but the reality is if Obama holds what he has, and get 15 percent of the disaffected Hillary women who are all pro choice, then he wins this thing by 12 points. You've seen O reach towards fifty, but the converse is true as well, if he gets into the mid fifties then McCain slips into the 30s . That is a great visual for us and it dominates the conversation.
That is basically the whole argument for running the ad. I'd love to get into a conversation about roe... the next pres is going to get 4 SC appointments. Maybe five. That is unheard of, it is insane. But it is true. So the court which is 5-4 on most issues has a chance to be remain five four liberal, or it can be 8-1 or 7-2 conservative. So yeah lets talk court, lets talk Roe, lets talk.

J

[robXdion]

I dunno. . . . O might be taking the Rove bait for a cultural war. US women deciding to have an abortion isn't gonna change the thousands dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. That won't fix the mortgage crisis. And it won't help gas prices or create job production. The GOP makes every election a battle of one singular moral value issue. Last time it was gay marriage. And we haven't heard Bush speak about gay marriage since October 2004 because it's a state issue.

[SheriChardonnay]

I agree BUT the GOP is making an issue out of abortion....Obama is on the Offense here!

[naschkatze]

I worry about that too and e-mailed the campaign that they should not give up the offensive, a.k.a., the economy. This one radio ad is not a major shift in the campaign, but Obama cannot let the Republicans wipe out the real issues, the economy, the war, the environment and energy, and substitute abortion as the number one issue. They cannot!

[Lvm]

I think this ad does just the opposite. The longer the Obama campaign doesn't respond to the same old politics of distraction and division, the longer the Republicans can keep it in the forefront. Excuse my lack of eloquence, but this crap isn't going to work anymore. State McCain's positions loud and clear, and be done with it.

[benne]

This is the kind of bull that makes people angry. Sorry, rob, but abortion and birth control have a real impact on all of these things. For example, if I am a soldier in Iraq and get raped by my fellow soldiers, I am not told that I can get an abortion in country even if I pay for it. As for economic issues, they get significantly worse when women (and families) can't control their reproduction. Only men think that this issue is less important than the war.

[kdublya]

Prior to Palin's injection into the race, "Family Values" was not an issue. On economics & foreign policy, McBush's team was toast.

I think what Rob is pointing out is that McBush is trying to divert away from obvious weaknesses.

Roe v Wade is a no-win for both sides - ie there is entrenched support for both positions.
However, it does polarize McBush's base and for now, that's good enough.