The dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's political edge in working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals are forced to keep emphasizing their conservative credentials to attract the right-leaning activists who dominate the nominating contests.
It's a dynamic that usually plays out when a president seeks re-election without a primary challenger, and the other party fights to determine its nominee.
Obama already is in general-election mode, with the luxury of courting voters who don't ascribe to a political party. The eventual Republican nominee is moving to the right and probably will have to edge back toward the center in the fall. The farther he must go to the fringe to win the nod, however, the tougher his task.
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The difference was clear Friday, at events two miles apart in Washington.
The difference was clear Friday, at events two miles apart in Washington.
At the White House, Obama made a carefully calibrated concession to Catholics angered by his decision to require religious-affiliated employers, including Catholic hospitals and colleges, to cover birth control in their health insurance plans. The president tweaked the rule Friday. He said insurance companies would provide contraceptive benefits directly to employees, technically leaving employers out of the transaction.
White House and Obama campaign officials were relieved by the initial reaction.
Groups such as Planned Parenthood, which privately had urged no changes, praised the move. More important, so did the influential Catholic Health Association of the United States, whose criticism of the original rule spelled trouble for Obama's team.
At the same time across town, three of the four GOP presidential candidates appeared separately at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a major annual gathering of activists on the political right. Each tried to out-do the other in proclaiming conservative fealty.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum criticized Obama's contraception policy. They painted themselves as conservative crusaders on a range of issues.
Romney drew snickers by saying he was a "severely conservative governor." Gingrich said the Obama administration "is waging war on religion."
Santorum, who built much of his national profile by fighting legalized abortion, said Obama is "telling the Catholic Church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic tenets and teachings."
"It's not about contraception," he said. "It's about economic liberty. It's about freedom of speech. It's about freedom of religion."
Democrats hope independent voters will see it differently. Americans, including Catholics, overwhelmingly embrace birth control. Obama's goal was to reframe his policy as a matter of equal access to preventive health care, not a quarrel about religious or economic rights.
"I think the president ended up looking like the responsible person in the room," said Lanae Erickson of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way, which has studied independent voting trends. "The Republican primary candidates went way out on a limb and will alienate themselves with independent voters," she said.
The CPAC speeches were standard fare for such conservative gatherings, and they may not matter much in November. But Democrats will try to use the remarks to portray the eventual GOP nominee as out of touch with middle America.
For now, they're focusing mainly on Romney, who won Saturday's straw poll at CPAC and the Maine GOP caucuses.
"Mitt Romney and the rest may think that catering to the tea party set and Rush Limbaugh is the only way to win the nomination, but the eventual nominee is going to pay a huge price for that approach with swing voters in the fall," said Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee."
Campaign strategists endlessly debate the right balance between pursuing independents versus firing up the party base. Karl Rove broke new ground in 2004 by placing considerably more emphasis on the Republican base, which propelled President George W. Bush to a second term.
Obama's 2008 victory, however, was built on the more traditional formula of focusing extensively on independent voters while doing as much as possible to keep his party's liberal activists energized. Since then, Obama has struggled to overcome their disappointment.
The shift on the Catholic-contraception issue appears modest enough to cause few ripples. But Obama infuriated some liberal groups by dropping plans to tighten ozone restrictions and to have a government-run health insurance provider.
Erickson said Obama can ill afford to appease liberals with left-leaning moves that would alienate independents. As public disenchantment with Congress has soared in the past few years, she said, the ranks of independents have swelled at the Democratic and Republican parties' expense.
"This year is going to have the highest independent turnout in modern political history," Erickson said.
The GOP primary contest shows no sign of wrapping up soon.
The longer it goes on, the more time Obama has to make overtures to independents who, as Erickson put it, "will be the kingmakers in this election."
This article reinforces the obvious truth that Obama is a centrist with reasonable positions and the republican party are the ones who are being extreme. Believing the opposite to be true is what demonstrates, better than anything else, just how wrong and out of touch, the Obama haters are. NOTHING Obama has ever done is the least bit extreme. The whole idea that Obama is some sort of extreme left-wing, radical "socialist" is nothing but ludicrous nonsense as anyone with the slightest understanding of American politics can easily see.
- 29 votes
#1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:36 AM EST
The problem is that the Right has made itself a bubble; an echo chamber. They no longer have to be exposed to reality to get their political news, and we've seen the unfortunate result.
- 17 votes
#1.1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:39 AM EST
Socialist is this decades new buzz-word. Seriously, they use it as some kind of white wash to counter any argument or debate thrown at them. The really sad thing is people who use 'progressive' like it's a 4-letter word. Since when did Progress become terrible? According to those people then, this Congress must be the best this country has ever seen, because it sure isn't progressing at all.
This latest flub with the contraceptives thing couldn't have been planned better though, the majority of women, catholic women, independents and leftists all agree with the policy, and the GoP and Catholic Church are still stuck on telling women what to do with their own bodies.
This latest flub with the contraceptives thing couldn't have been planned better though, the majority of women, catholic women, independents and leftists all agree with the policy, and the GoP and Catholic Church are still stuck on telling women what to do with their own bodies.
- 17 votes
#1.2 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:45 AM EST
Hey GOP Base and fellow seniors:
Google: Romney's and Santorum's plans to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Think about that when you cast your vote!
Google: Romney's and Santorum's plans to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Think about that when you cast your vote!
- 14 votes
#1.4 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:12 PM EST
donald duck has more sense than this jerk..
and would easily beat him!
and would easily beat him!
- 1 vote
#1.5 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:13 PM EST
Patriotic and Ron
No election is easy and very few are slam dunks. If people think that they will stay away from the polls. Rather than think it's going to be easy, go work for your candidate. I would hate to see the Repbulicans win because people thought it was a slam dunk and didn't bother.
The Republicans are soooo far right they frighten me.
No election is easy and very few are slam dunks. If people think that they will stay away from the polls. Rather than think it's going to be easy, go work for your candidate. I would hate to see the Repbulicans win because people thought it was a slam dunk and didn't bother.
The Republicans are soooo far right they frighten me.
- 13 votes
#1.6 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:38 PM EST
B Murphy -- Good analysis. The president/Dems are doing a much better job of appealing to swing voters. And it isn't pandering. They have been proving they represent middle America with a lot of hard work and often heavy lifts in the face of GOP/TP obstructionism -- Income inequality, fair taxation, balanced approach to deficits, job creation and investment in a future for ALL.
But as we know, the Right worships at the alter of Fear & Hate -- though irrational and not fact-based, these are the strongest emotions. So liberals MUST get out the vote along with moderates to reelect President Obama, but more importantly to give the president a congress that will work with him.
In regard to demonizing words like "liberal" or "progressive" what about "secular?" Heck, even "European-style" anything including "socialism?" Our government is supposed to be secular, and it's really pitiful when conservatives call liberals "fascists" because fascism is right-wing.
We are bordering on "plutocracy" and Santorum, et al, would like our country to be a "theocracy." These things are real and something to seriously worry about.
But as we know, the Right worships at the alter of Fear & Hate -- though irrational and not fact-based, these are the strongest emotions. So liberals MUST get out the vote along with moderates to reelect President Obama, but more importantly to give the president a congress that will work with him.
In regard to demonizing words like "liberal" or "progressive" what about "secular?" Heck, even "European-style" anything including "socialism?" Our government is supposed to be secular, and it's really pitiful when conservatives call liberals "fascists" because fascism is right-wing.
We are bordering on "plutocracy" and Santorum, et al, would like our country to be a "theocracy." These things are real and something to seriously worry about.
- 8 votes
#1.7 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:47 PM EST
"Hey dsb, the GOP teatards frighten all of us, not just you"
- 5 votes
Im buying stock in Apotex. The Paxil usage will increase on Nov 7th, it will be called the new day after drug.
- 1 vote
#1.9 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:30 PM EST
Obama is going to go down in flames this fall. Even the notion of telling a church to purchase contraceptives while fining them for not carrying health care is a violation of their faith. Just remember dems, this survives and maybe your party will have you people sterilized in a few years. That would be fitting. Also, the housing crisis is alive and well. No rational person is going to vote for obama after getting soaked by 30-50% on their house and bailing out the banks letting the middle class suffer. As far as his handling of the economy, blowing 5 trillion on his buddies don't cut it - a lot of people lost their jobs and they are not coming back. I am tea party and I won't compromise to a facist dictatorship!
#1.10 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:44 PM EST
jolly joker -- What a joke, you troll.
Laws of the Land against animal sacrifice, or heck, polygamy are examples of balancing rights -- You can't commit murder because you claim it to be your religious belief. Everyone knows the Catholic priests (preaching from the pulpit) about the Laws of the Land, in which birth control is legal and a right of all citizens, is a nontroversy blown out of proportion by the likes of Gingrich.
This is merely labor law in regard to health insurance (and only applicable to companies of more than 50 employees with churchs exempt) and per long-standing precedent. Thanks to Teapublican love for the current bizarre and broken health care system in which employers are responsible for insurance -- when the rest of the world has cut out the greedy middlemen insurance companies and have government-administered health care thereby avoiding such controversy (contrived as it may be). All this does is confirm the need for a single-payer "Medicare for all" health care system.
fas·cism/ˈfaSHizÉ™m/
Noun:
- An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
- (in general use) Extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
Obviously you don't read other posts, and just swoop and poop. And obviously you subscribe to right-wing propaganda and conspiracy theory ignorance, but when posters lie in here, we call them on it.
- 1 vote
#1.11 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:20 PM EST
This president has already shown his colors. He will change his position depending on the mood of the electorate at that time. He will lie and pander to get your support, and then he will throw you under the bus.
Oust obama bin biden in November!
Oust obama bin biden in November!
- 4 votes
#2 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:45 AM EST
Yeah...in favor of who? Romney? Paul? Gingrich? You're kidding right? Those are hardly better replacements.
- 18 votes
#2.1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:46 AM EST
He doesn't change his colors, he tries to find room in the middle to get things through. There is nothing wrong with that at all, this country needs more of it.
- 14 votes
#2.3 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:03 PM EST
"Oust obama bin biden in November!"
Seriously dude? You're still trying to paint the president as a muslim terrorist? How sad and pathetic. I pity you, but not too much. I try not to waste too much of my energy on the mentally retarded like yourself.
See my post below, it will show you exactly how Obama's reelection is inevitable. Though, republicans and teabaggers are the fingers in the ears, singing "La la la la la" when it comes to being presented with the truth type of idiots.
Seriously dude? You're still trying to paint the president as a muslim terrorist? How sad and pathetic. I pity you, but not too much. I try not to waste too much of my energy on the mentally retarded like yourself.
See my post below, it will show you exactly how Obama's reelection is inevitable. Though, republicans and teabaggers are the fingers in the ears, singing "La la la la la" when it comes to being presented with the truth type of idiots.
- 11 votes
#2.4 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:16 PM EST
The president's reelection won't be difficult to achieve. It's a simple matter of math. If one can count as high as 270, the president will have a second term. Simply put, any GOP nominee would have to win all 5 of the following states to get 270 electoral votes; VA, PA, NC, OH & FL. The president won all 5 in 2008, and in November, he'll only have to win one of any of them to get to 270 electoral votes. Republicans pretty much handed him Ohio by pissing off their majority with their failed attempt to take all power away from labor unions in a state that loves their unions. Basically, thanks to republican fools, Obama wins. The vice president will likely be able to deliver Pennsylvania again, they love him there. Virginia is still in play, but will likely go to the GOP. Florida and North Carolina will likely be tossups again.
Any way you do the math, it's nearly impossible for the GOP nominee, whoever he may be (Romney), to reach 270 electoral votes.
I look forward to the republicans on this thread calling me all kinds of names,I find their hate amusing (yet still very very sad and pathetic), but I'd be willing to bet that none can refute the math.
Any way you do the math, it's nearly impossible for the GOP nominee, whoever he may be (Romney), to reach 270 electoral votes.
I look forward to the republicans on this thread calling me all kinds of names,I find their hate amusing (yet still very very sad and pathetic), but I'd be willing to bet that none can refute the math.
- 14 votes
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