On Friday I noted the problems Sarah Palin offers pro-choice Republicans who wish to maintain their moderate image while endorsing their party's presidential ticket. It seems Democrats have taken note -- at a campaign rally for Jim Himes, who is challenging moderate Republican Chris Shays in Connecticut's 4th District, Connecticut Rep. Rosa Delauro uses Palin to go after Shays:
I spoke yesterday with Michael Sohn, Shays' campaign manager, who told me "Chris ... differs from Senator McCain on choice, he differs from most members of his party when it comes to choice" but he "supports his ticket, he supports Sarah Palin for being part of the ticket, the energy that it brings to the ticket." While emphasizing their differences on social issues, Sohn noted that Shays agrees with McCain-Palin "right off the bat on reform, cleaning out corruption, ethics, cutting wasteful spending, those are Chris Shays hallmarks. Chris has worked on John McCain for a decade on these issues, if not longer." Sohn said Palin won't become a major part of Shays' campaign: "This election is about, as is every election for Chris, is about Chris Shays and what he has done for his district."
So the question for Chris Shays, as it is for John McCain, is whether Palin will be known more as a reformer or as a right-wing conservative. Given her record as a reformer is rather thin -- she apparently changed her tune on earmarks after the presidential candidates made their positions clear -- and given Democrats are going to make the case that she is extremely conservative and anti-choice, I expect at best her image will be muddled.
If you live in a district with a pro-choice Republican, here's an idea: call them up and ask where they stand on Palin's nomination. Then let us know in the comments.
--Tim Fernholz
9/12/08: This post has been corrected; I mistakenlyreferred to Shays' campaign manager as Michael Stone, in fact, his nameis Michael Sohn. I regret the error.
