Abortion rights advocates are fuming over reports that some key Democrats are backing antiabortion candidates in at least two Senate races, a sign that the emotional issue continues to vex the party after the 2004 election losses.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has signaled its preference -- sometimes subtly, sometimes not -- for Pennsylvania Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. in next year's bid to oust Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), and for Rep. James R. Langevin (D-R.I.) in the race against Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.). Casey and Langevin describe themselves as pro-life. Abortion rights groups are miffed at the DSCC for appearing to back the two men long before the 2006 primaries, which will include prominent Democrats who favor abortion rights.
"It's disturbing," said Kate Michelman, a past president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "It concerns women and it concerns the pro-choice community that the party would preempt the [nominating] process and anoint someone who doesn't share the party's core values" -- in this case, legalized abortion.
The issue is especially troubling in Pennsylvania, Michelman said, where former state treasurer Barbara Hafer is not only a proponent of abortion rights but is also viewed by many as a woman who has earned a shot at the Senate. Noting that Santorum is one of Congress's most outspoken opponents of abortion, Michelman said Democrats should offer voters a clear contrast rather than another "anti-choice candidate" such as Casey.
Things are different in Rhode Island, where Chafee supports abortion rights and often opposes President Bush, but Democrats want him out as part of their bid to regain the Senate majority. Secretary of State Matt Brown (D), who favors abortion rights, was not amused to see the DSCC's name associated with a Langevin fundraiser scheduled in Washington this week.
DSCC Chairman Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) said in an interview that his committee has "absolutely not" helped raise money for specific challengers in the 2006 races. But when shown the Langevin fundraiser invitation, which says "Paid for by the DSCC," committee spokesman Phil Singer said the disclosure was required because a staff member had agreed to fax the invitation from DSCC headquarters. "It's not a DSCC event," Singer said.
Still, he left little doubt where the committee's heart is. "Jim Langevin would be an excellent candidate," Singer said, "and we'd love to see him run."
Langevin, a quadriplegic since an accidental shooting at age 16, uses a motorized wheelchair. He has told voters: "Because of what happened to me, I became aware of how precious life is. I'm pro-life."
The Senate's top Democrat -- party leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) -- also opposes legalized abortion. Shortly after the November elections, he said Senate Democrats have no "litmus test" on the issue, and he urged Democrats to work harder on ways to reduce unwanted pregnancies.
GOP Senator Backs a Kennedy Bid
Key Democrats aren't the only ones intervening early in next year's Senate races. Within hours of the surprise announcement by Sen. Mark Dayton (D) that he will not seek reelection in Minnesota, GOP leaders rallied behind Rep. Mark Kennedy, even though a former senator also plans to run.
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he hopes Kennedy, who announced his candidacy Friday, will become the party's "consensus candidate."
"Our chances of winning this seat are improved the quicker [Kennedy] can somehow have a party unite behind him," he said.
That won't sit well with former senator Rod Grams (R), who also wants the nomination. Grams, who is considered by many as too conservative for this tossup state, lost to Dayton in 2000.
Too Quick on the Draw?
House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) was on a roll last week, praising President Bush's massive 2006 budget plan and ripping Democrats for criticizing it so quickly. "Within 30 seconds, people are holding press conferences and lambasting the budget," Nussle told his committee. "Now, you tell me that somebody has already had the opportunity to read all of this. . . . The plastic is not even off this thing."
Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) intervened to ask, "If we hadn't read it to criticize it, how did you read it to praise it, just out of curiosity?"
Nussle instantly replied: "The gentleman is out of order."
Tote That Bale, Lift That Barge
Mixed metaphors are common enough in congressional news releases, but Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) took the cake -- and grabbed the ring and mowed down the opposition -- with last week's critique of Bush's budget. "Meat axe slashes federal budget and cuts core out of Big Apple," said the headline. Regarding tuition aid, he said, "we need to be giving every student a fair shot at higher education, not ripping the rug out from under [them]."
Schumer's take on the proposed cuts in home heating subsidies was less metaphorical than dizzying. He called them "wrong-headed and inappropriate, especially as the OPEC cartel continues to jack up oil prices and tip American consumers upside down."
