This is getting ridiculous.
First, the DNC turns into a giant pro-choice rally. Now, MoveOn.org is out with a disgusting, fear-mongering attack ad about how the GOP will take women back to the era of back-alley abortions. Not only is it utterly offensive and completely off-point from voters' concerns, it conflates Mitt Romney's personal position on the issue with the GOP platform, so it's misleading, too.
Nevermind the moral debate about abortion -- although you can find a great perspective on the pro-life cause here -- consider what this adds to the conversation about abortion and more generally, this election: nothing, actually. \
First of all, it falsely implies that Mitt Romney shares the Republican Party's platform on abortion, which he does not. He's in favor of it in cases of rape, incest, and if the mother's life in endangered. Calling it "Romney and Ryan's GOP," however, clearly ties the candidate to a position that he has stated he will not support in office.
Second of all, the crude imagery of a woman staring at a hanger in a closet, contemplating that this is her only recourse for an abortion, runs totally contra to the supposed "civility" Obama desires. If this ad starts running in swing states near you, and our president doesn't issue some sort of statement denouncing it, then one can only assume he doesn't have a problem with the message and imagery. New tone, indeed. And in terms of persuading swing voters, the extremism on display in this ad will absolutely have the support of the Sandra Flukes of the world, but probably not your average suburban mom. She might be pro-choice, but she's likely to find the tone off-putting and exaggerated.
Third, the Left's obsession with abortion these days is creepy and pathetic. If they don't feel confident that the nation will accept Obama's economic ideology -- which, clearly, they don't, since they won't talk about it -- then their guy doesn't deserve to be reelected. My grandmother always says, "Do today your nearest duty," and right now, that's the economy. Families aren't hurting because of infringement on their "right" to an abortion; they're hurting because many are down a paycheck thanks to high unemployment, and too much in taxes comes out of the paychecks they do receive. Address the issue at hand -- the one that Americans care about -- and stop trying to distract from the conversation with offensive, hyperbolic messaging. Besides, one of these days, the average American female voter will get sick of being reduced to her anatomy; it's best to have something substantive to say about other "women's" issues, too.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member