The Democrats can't keep their litmus tests straight. First, DNC Chair Tom Perez demanded solidarity on their pro-abortion agenda. Then, other Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi contradicted him and said "of course" pro-lifers are welcome in the party.
Perhaps knowing voters were a bit confused, DCCC Chair Ben Ray Luján told supporters last month that there is "no litmus test" on the controversial issue. No matter where you stand on the issue of life, he said, you have a place in the Democratic Party.
His own compatriot did not get the message. On Thursday, The Atlantic quoted DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly declaring that, “The DCCC has no interest in working with Democrats for Life of America.”
The group Kelly dismissed is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that helps elect pro-life Democrats. Isn't electing Democrats something you think the DCCC would be interested in?
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser says enough with the mixed messaging, adding that the uncorroborated stories prove the Democrats are just playing pro-lifers for fools.
“Spokeswoman Meredith Kelly’s statement that the DCCC flatly refuses to work with Democrats for Life contradicts the comments previously made by her boss, Rep. Luján," Dannenfelser said in a statement Thursday. "It is further evidence that Democratic Party leaders are likely stringing pro-lifers along, using them for their votes without intending to back away from their extreme position on abortion.
“The Democratic Party cannot wave this deepening crisis away with facile platitudes. One-third of rank-and-file Democrats consider themselves pro-life. An even greater number of Democrats support banning late-term abortion after twenty weeks and oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. SBA List already has canvassers on the ground in Ohio and Florida, reaching out to low-turnout pro-life voters, including persuadable Democrats and Hispanics, educating them about the candidates’ position on abortion. Party leaders and vulnerable Democrat Senators up for re-election in 2018, take note: slamming the door in these voters' faces is how elections are lost.”
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Since abortion has proven to be too complicated a topic for the party, other liberals and Democrats have floated around other potential litmus tests. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) proposed single payer health care as a good starting point, while California Gov. Jerry Brown is under the impression they should start listening to the "common man."
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