Los Angeles Times Editorial Says Election Should Not Be About Abortion, Other Issues Important To 'Values' Voters

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 22 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The "electorate would be the loser" if issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and the relationship between church and state "play as significant a role this year as they have in recent presidential races," a Los Angeles Times editorial says. According to the Times, the most "significant" difference between Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on social issues is on abortion rights -- McCain likely would appoint Supreme Court justices who "would rein in, or even reverse, Roe v. Wade," while Obama would "do the opposite."

McCain "energized" attendees of the Values Voters Summit -- an annual meeting of religious conservatives in Washington, D.C. -- by selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), who opposes abortion rights "even in cases of rape and incest," as his vice presidential running mate, the editorial says. However, emphasizing abortion as a voting issue could be a "risky focus for McCain" that could "hurt his prospects by flaunting his pro-life position because many of the centrist women whose votes he covets are pro-choice," according to the Times.

Some of the attendees at the Values Voters Summit "hope that the 2008 election will be a referendum on 'values'-- as defined by them," the editorial says, adding, "We hope they're wrong. ... Decades of arguing about abortion, an issue that turns on matters of personal faith, have produced only tiny shifts in policy. Can we talk about something else this time?" (Los Angeles Times, 9/18).

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