Josh Schroeder: There Might Be Another

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

There Might Be Another

In the past, I claimed that Paul Ryan was only one candidate who had a real opportunity to beat Russ Feingold in 2010. I want to back off of that a little bit.

Looking around at other blogs (I don't recall which off the top of my head), I was reminded of another candidate; in fact, someone I was hoping would run against Herb Kohl back in 2006, and it's not Glenn Grothman (though I did collect signatures for Glenn and even wrote him in on election day). I won't mention his name, but he was my congressman back in the 1990's.

As things stand right now, you would say his bid for Senate would be a long shot. But I think if he played his cards right, and if he got in sooner rather than later, he could do it.

But he's not the perfect candidate - he is pro-abortion. So when those issues are on the Senate floor, he wouldn't be there for the unborn, but he belongs to the party that does. This is not something to get excited about, EXCEPT, it is important which party chairs committees and sets the calendar in the Senate and so forth.

When it comes to a Legislative race in a General election, I would vote for a pro-choice Republican over a pro-life Democrat. With the Democrats in control, pro-life bills will never make it to the floor, much less pass. Whereas, when the Republicans have a majority, pro-life bills will be debated in committees and on the floor. Not all Republicans will support the bill, but not all Democrats will necessarily oppose the bill, either. And it could pass.

Just make sure that the pro-life Republicans outnumber the pro-aborts by a strong margin. You can't carelessly employ this strategy.

UPDATE: Hello, WisOpinion readers! To clarify, I'm just saying that there exists the possibility that there is a Republican candidate other than Paul Ryan who could beat Feingold in 2010 - think Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi says of Luke Skywalker, "That boy is our only hope." thought only Luke Skywalker, but Yoda said "No, there is another" referring to Princess Leia. I was previously of the opinion that Paul Ryan was our only hope, but was reminded that there is another. I'm not predicting a primary battle, I'm not trying to draft anyone, I'm just acknowledging that Paul Ryan isn't necessarily our only hope.

Just don't take this analogy too far. The person I'm thinking of is not Paul Ryan's sister and the two have never kissed. Okay?

3 comments:

Shvotz said...: I write this message in the sincerest of ways, knowing full well that abortion is a very sensitive topic to many many people.

But your characterization of Democrats (and Russ Feingold specifically) as "pro-abortion" is misleading. No politician that I know of is pro-abortion -- they are pro-choice.

What the pro-life movement fails to comprehend is that pro-choicers are for allowing the individual -- not the government -- to decide what is best for their bodies. The choice is THEIRS to make, not ours, and this is true even if we outlaw abortion. Women will continue to have abortions, albeit illegally, in either their own homes or in dangerous alleyways performed by less-than-scrupulous physicians.

Is abortion a terrible thing? In my mind, yes it is. That's why, when fortune smiled upon me and gave my fiancee and myself an unplanned pregnancy, I manned-up (so to speak) and accepted responsibility for my actions.

But for many, where the health of the mother is a concern, or when it is a child conceived in rape, or various other circumstances, bringing a child into this world is not a feasible option. Is it horrible? Again, in my eyes it is. But it's not my life, it's not my choice. That's the point -- that the government has no right to decide for us.; 11:24 AM
krshorewood said...: Absolutely no politician -- or person -- is pro-abortion. Just about all of us would like to see it eliminated, but many of us realize that punishing whomever is not the solution.

It didn't work before Roe v Wade, it would not work now.

The better solution is to find ways to reduce abortion by encouraging women to have children and certainly find ways for them to have children.

By the way, Democrats send pro-life bills to the floor all the time -- against the war, so better health care, for a better economy, for assistance to the poor, etc.; 11:42 AM
Josh Schroeder said...: @Shvotz: The unborn baby has no say in what is done to his or her body. People are going to steal cars despite laws on the books. Should we legalize that, too?

@krshorewood: Who said anything about punishment? Anyway, bills protecting the unborn doesn't make it to the floor with Democrats in the majority. Don't change the subject.; 1:29 PM