Ed Kilgore makes a spooky argument about the role abortion (shhh) is playing in the background of the Tea Party surge.
Perhaps because the national media tend to be secular, we are persistently underestimating the role that abortion plays in right-wing politics. Yet it is key to understanding some of the zealous opposition that caused GOP primary voters to overthrow Mike Castle. Unless you are an aficionado of conservative blogs, you probably didn't notice the deep opposition that many on the right were taking to Castle's pro-choice views.
The issue has been growling and snarling just off camera for months.
For all the endless and interminable talk about "constitutionalism" on the right, it's rarely acknowledged that lurking in the background is wrath about Roe v. Wade. The same is true with the rage about health care reform; if you read a lot of right-wing blogs, as I do, you'd note that fear about Obamacare producing a massive expansion of publicly-funded abortion was a major motivator of right-wing opposition. ...
... Perhaps I’m overestimating the power of the abortion issue, and Mike Castle lost strictly because of his votes for climate-change legislation and TARP, or because he embodied his state’s establishment. But I'm inclined to think that his pro-choice position contributed mightily to his downfall. The abortion issue didn't go away for the right the day the Tea Party started.
In which case, abortion will be the issue which glues many to the movement. They've just learned not to shout about it in a country which has shown itself to be tenaciously pro-life. After all, the government intruding into a family's decisions...
