Does Rudy G. Have to Change His Abortion Stance To Win It All?

If he does, then I fear for our party in 2008. Here's what sent me down this path: writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, Thomas Roeser apparently thinks the path to the presidency for Rudy is an opportunistic 'change of heart' on abortion. Says Roeser:

Social conservatives will oppose Giuliani for his pro-abortion views. It's up to Giuliani to help himself with them, and here's how. As governor of California, Ronald Reagan signed the most permissive abortion law in the country. Rudy, can you hear me? If you want this thing -- this presidency -- you gotta change and mean it. Your marriages we can do nothing about. But your social views have to change. They'll say you're an opportunist, but you have heard that before. You can change. And mean it. We're waiting.

There's an implicit threat in those words that is par for the course for pro-choice Democrats, but should have no place in the Republican Party. Let's shoot straight - most Republicans, myself included, hate the thought of abortion, primarily because we see its most prevelant use as a form of birth control, the taking of a life (real or potential) so that people can indulge in promiscuity. Am I wrong? I don't think so.

That's not going to change, regardless of who the President is. Republicans, as a group, will oppose unrestricted abortion, and Democrats will embrace it. The difference is, or should be, that for Democrats, it is quite literally the single most important factor that unites their various constituencies (if you doubt it, just look at the current SCOTUS debate).

In other words, it is the dreaded 'litmus test'...to be a Democrat in good standing, you simply must embrace the pro-choice movement. Do Republicans have to follow suit? Do we really want to elevate this social issue to the level of the highest importance? Isn't the War on Terror more important? How about getting hold of the deficit? Education? Social Security reform? Health care?

Our inherent disgust when confronted with the 'abortion as birth control' issue should not blind us to the fact that it is a matter that has its best solution in societal consensus. Facing off against our opponents across the empty streets of Dodge City in a winner-take-all shootout is a a dangerous fantasy that we cannot afford. There are too many issues that the President can really affect on a day-to-day level to let abortion be the determining factor in choosing a Commander-in-Chief.