An Ignatius interview with Bob Casey, Jr. Sigh. I have nothing but respect and affection for his old man, but he would have been a terrible president. Better than Clinton, but still terrible. And --read my lips-- being a "pro-life Democrat" in Congress is exactly the same as being "personally opposed, but. . . ." Why do I say this? Because if you run for the U.S. House or Senate (state legislatures are another matter) on the Democratic ticket, you are promising to vote for Democratic leadership of your legislative body, and hence for your party to head all the committees. All the heavy lifting on any issue depends on who controls the committees, because that's where bills are marked up and where the chair makes decisions about what even makes it to the floor. Sen. Casey, as I assume he will become, may believe whatever he likes in his heart, but he will vote to make Harry Reid the Majority Leader and Ted Kennedy or Patrick Leahy chairman of the Judiciary Committee. (If the Repubs don't lose any other seats, it won't be the end of the world this time around, but it won't help matters). And he will likely follow his party on judges, too. If he were serious about wanting to advance a pro-life culture, he'd run again for governor. A pro-life Governor of any party can do some good. But make no mistake, to be a pro-life Democratic Senator is simply to announce that the culture of life issues are not in the end all that important to you. It's to be PLINO. (Pro-life in name only).
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