Following up on Dana's post about Obama and abortion, the major reason Obama has not been emphasizing his support for reproductive rights or pro-Roe Supreme Court justices is his outreach to religious voters.
Obama is not alone among Democrats, of course, in couching abortion as a moral issue, rather than focusing on women's rights. But with the emergence of a centrist evangelical movement -- which is mostly center-right, relative to the Christian right -- Obama sees electoral opportunities with evangelical voters fed up with the my-way-or-the-high-way politics of Dobson et al.
The prominent figures in this more centrist movement, like Florida megachurch pastor Joel Hunter, or Sojourners president Jim Wallis (who is not, contrary to popular mythology, a progressive) say they are tired of the divisiveness of politics focused exclusively on abortion and gay marriage and want to turn their attention to other issues. But they are nonetheless decidedly anti-choice, whether they choose to focus on that or not. To capture the affection of that kind of evangelical voter, Obama has avoided talking about nominating pro-Roe judges or protecting a woman's right to choose.
Many people have applauded the emergence of the evangelical center as a counterweight to the vitriol of the religious right. While cutting back on vitriol is always welcome, this is still politics, and politics can sometimes be divisive. Obama's silence on abortion rights and judicial appointments might be convenient now, but if he's elected, he will have to reconcile the expectations of his loyal pro-choice base and the religious voters he so assiduously courted. That might be when things actually get divisive.
--Sarah Posner
