The Republicans are scrambling for a candidate. They've come up with former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson. This conservative is of the old order of politicians and, should he actually succeed in gaining the presidency, is a threat to Roe vs. Wade.
Fred Thompson's political ideology has been likened to that of Federalism. Federalism calls for a central government which would have little interference with the individual states' self governance. The Federalist Party, though, also held that the elite, the well to do, the moneyed white men of the day should run the country. This political theory played well in the late 18th and early 19th century, when the elite were the rule, when women and blacks were considered less than equals.
Though Fred Thompson may not be a misogynist nor a bigot, his position on Roe vs. Wade, the law that recognizes the reproductive rights of women, plays in the press like that of a 19th century elitist. The former Senator has repeatedly made known he considers Roe vs. Wade to be a bad law and would work to overturn it. While this may be an attractive lure for the ultra conservative vote, it's unlikely the majority of Americans would be willing to allow a unilateral slashing of a woman's right to choose.
Why does he consider Roe vs. Wade a bad law? Why has he repeatedly called it "bad medicine"? In an interview sponsored by the Hoover Institute, posted on the website Think Progress, the Senator says that he believes the law was “fabricated out of whole cloth” and “it was not only bad law, it was bad medicine. I mean, we know a lot of things now about all that that we didn't even know then.”
What, exactly, is it that is known about abortion now that was unknown then? Does Fred Thompson believe abortions are now unsafe? He doesn't say that, exactly. He is willing to let abortion be a state issue, taking it out of the hands of the federal government. So the implication could be that the former senator from Tennessee believes that federally, abortion is harmful to women, but that as a state issue, it's safe.
Yes, Fred Thompson is of the old order of politicians. He is adept at talking in circles, at saying one thing and another at the same time, at toeing the party line.
The Republican Party is up against a new order. Senators Clinton and Obama are fresh, contemporary, and appealing to both grassroots organizations and traditional democrats. They're also appealing to those Republicans who have grown weary, and wary, of the Republican Party's intolerance of anyone other than the old guard, the elite.
The Republican Party may believe that the ultra conservative Fred Thompson will be appealing to those who see Roe vs. Wade as a contributing force in the moral decay of America, who believe the old order should be made new again, that George Bush proved too liberal and the federal government should be little more than a bank account for the military. The Republican Party may even believe this describes most of the American people.
But it's very likely the new order will prove them wrong.
what would happen is that the great majority of states (if not all) would have their own abortion laws and guidelines. why is that a bad thing? the truth is that the states pretty much already have their own laws in place.
the spectre of roe v wade is just another canard put out by dems to scare people into backing them. sad.