In Search Of

That's the name of an article appearing today on the Daily Standard. Here's the link:

In Search Of

Terry Eastland writes that the Democratic Party may finally be starting to moderate their views on the abortion issue. The major source of this possible moderation is that Hillary Clinton made a statement at a pro-abortion rally saying that the Democratic Party needs to open up to voters "beyond traditional core Democrats who support abortion rights". This signals to writers at the New York Times and the Weekly Standard that the Democratic party may be looking to change it's views on abortion. Basically, it would be an attempt by the Democrats to move to the center on this issue.

What I get out of this article is the fact that the Democrats may not use upholding Roe v. Wade as a litmus test for judicial appointees. This would be a huge shift by the Democratic party since upholding the Roe decision, as unconstitutional as it may be, is one of the major issues that the Democrats center around.

However, this might be the first attempts by Hillary Clinton to make waves nationally in an attempt for the White House in 2008. Notice how she never actually waivered from her stand on abortion while offering to bring opposing viewpoints into the Democratic Party. Sounds like she wants to establish herself as a moderate, record or no record.

I doubt however that the Democratic Party will actually open its doors to pro-life supporters. This is despite the rhetoric that the Democratic Party is a big tent party, welcoming people from all walks of life, etc., unlike those Republicans who will only let you into the party if your rich, male and white. The fact of the matter is that the feminist/pro-abortion wing of the Democratic Party is too powerful to attempt any change in the position of abortions-on-demand that the party currently holds. There are other positions that both parties hold that can be considered "core". The real question is whether the Democrats are realistic enough to change their policy when it appears that public opinion doesn't favor them in the polls.