NPR Examines Efforts By Religious Right To Regroup After Election Setbacks

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 17 Nov 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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NPR's "All Things Considered" on Thursday examined reactions from conservative religious leaders to the victory of President-elect Barack Obama and his plans for issues such as abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. According to NPR, Obama in his election night victory speech "reached out to those who supported his rival -- including evangelicals -- who voted overwhelmingly" for Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Obama said, "I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, need your help, and I will be your president, too." However, this promise "meant little to leaders of the religious right," and many conservative leaders say they are "undaunted" by Democratic gains in the election, according to NPR. Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President Bush, said the religious conservative movement has a notion "that it's most energized when it feels under assault."

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said, "I knew, moments after the election results came in, that I was now part of the resistance movement." As part of its "movement," CWA has launched a nationwide telemarketing advertising campaign. In the ad, Wright says, "We face a president and Congress more hostile to unborn children, to marriage, to religious freedom, to free speech, to protecting our country than has ever existed in our history." According to Wright, the ad generated an immediate response of calls from religious conservatives asking "what they could do" to help, NPR reports.

Religious conservative leaders also have been scrutinizing Obama's speeches from the campaign trail for messages they can use to rally their base, NPR reports. In particular, they have publicized a speech Obama made last year to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in which he said, "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act." The act -- which would need congressional approval before Obama could sign it -- would eliminate most federal and state restrictions on abortion. Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said of the speech, "I found myself thinking, 'My goodness, I can't believe he's going to make it this easy for us to rally our troops to get off the mat and get back to work.'" NPR reports that Bauer also is "looking for hints about what executive orders the new president would sign" and keeping a close watch on his plans for lifting Bush administration restrictions on international family planning funding and embryonic stem cell research.

Bauer said, "If in his first 100 days, he repeatedly sticks his finger in the eyes of the 48% of voters who voted against him, I think that's going to be a clear signal that however charming it was to independent voters, it was a ruse." Gerson said Obama "has high expectations from the liberal wing of the congressional majority, and he has the realities of governing, where you don't want to pick culture war fights in the first 100 days, or even your first year, because you want to get some things accomplished" ("All Things Considered," NPR, 11/13).

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