In denial: The makeup of the SC is a done deal, first of all. Secondly, there’s no evidence at all at this point that either Roberts or Alito are willing to actually overturn Roe v Wade. I’m unconvinced that they are. We’ll find out soon enough, but the stance of the next President will have nothing to do with that, since it’ll be just about three years before the next one takes office, and there’ll probably be another replacement before then. So, if you’re rational, you’ll realize that at this point, for better or worse, the die is cast and there’s no point making your choice for the next President on the basis of this issue. You can be in denial and think that it will, or you can make a rational calculation and realize that the next President’s position on this issue is irrelevant.
However, at one time the US actually stood for something, before we invaded on a transparent pretext and then indulged in widespread torture throughout a network of prisons around the world. Me, I’d like it to stand for something again, as in the minimal standard of decency that we at least were guided by before this, this, person and his co-pro-torture team - Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and Gonzales - got up there. I want the comfort of four years with someone who might restore the US’s tattered reputation before the world. That’s something that the next President can change.
Your a New Yorker, how do you feel about a McCain/Rudy G. Ticket? It could happen at this point. The Religious Right will try and run Jeb Bush and the Moderates and Conservatives will probable rally behind McCain.
McCain can grab a lot of independent voters especially with a liberal Hero Republican from the North East.
Jim
I’m not sure how the decision came down to abortion or espect/integrity, pantom. And I’m probably dragging this topic way afield.
For practical purposes, though every President gets at least one Supreme Court appointment - the only President who served at least one full term without getting a nomination was Carter - and with several Justices in their 70s, the next one may get more than that. So it is an issue. (Trivially/Amusingly, McCain is older than six of the current Justices.) While those could be reasons abortion shouldn’t matter to voters, I don’t think they’ll make liberals more likely to vote for McCain. If Roe v. Wade is overturned by November 2008, I think liberals and Democrats would be even less likely to vote for him. But that’s all speculation, obviously; I don’t know what the court will do either.
Back to the topic a little bit, I’m another person who thought this kind of Republican splintering was bound to happen eventually. The nature of a political party is to have people with different agendas, but it’s become clearer and clearer in the last year that the goals of some groups of social conservatives and fiscal/small government conservatives were just incompatible. If anything, I’m happy that the libertarians and the latter group have stopped taking one for the team. In some ways, the Bush presidency has convinced me that they have the right idea about government after all.
What Exit?, if you’re asking me personally, I wouldn’t vote for that ticket in a million years. It would probably pick up votes, but I’m curious to see what New Yorkers think about Rudy by that time. He was unpopular pre-September 11th, and I’m not sure how much will be glossed over. Regardless of who the VPs are, if the 2008 election is Clinton/McCain, I’m sure to vote Libertarian or stay home.
Hmm? Specific examples?
On this page – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Hillary_Rodham_Clinton – I can’t find anything on which she hasn’t been constant.
Thank you for asking:
So, she’s pro-war and she’s weak on civil liberties. That’s more than enough proof for me.
I haven’t seen the Molly Ivins piece, but I understand she raked Hillary over the coals recently. Chris Matthews quoted a pretty funny section from it on Hardball yesterday. While she climbs in the polls, she sinks with the “liberal establishment”, in as much as there is such a thing.
Eh, there’s probably two or three folks left in it, outside of Hollywood, of course.