The Abortion President & Slavery: Knockin’ the Chip off Obama’s Shoulder

The Republicans have looked like political eunuchs, scared to fight on important issues. Someone had to do something. David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network finally broke this story. This is what I’ve been waiting to see: a real attempt to fight against Obama. After all, McCain is not doing it.

The Brody File article discusses a flyer put out by the Christian Defense Coalition (CDC). The flyer is a pro-life message that is not simply divisive–it can win because it is powerful and difficult to argue against. CDC accuses Obama of being the “Abortion President.” As the graphic below reveals, it is very well done. But that’s not all folks. Like the TV ads, “Wait! There’s more!” Along with the picture, CDC makes an analogy to slavery that literally knocks the chip off Obama’s shoulder.

CDC’s analogy of slavery to abortion (all the while calling Obama the Abortion President) seems to insinuate that Barack isn’t really interested in freeing people. The analogy is powerful for one reason: It seeks to steal the racial barrier from what has heretofore been impossible: the Democrats. The analogy is as follows: For Barack to claim that he is personally opposed to abortion but supports a woman’s right to choose is like saying one is personally opposed to slavery but supports a white man’s right to own slaves.

In fact, an ABC NEWS commentator is already trying to circle the proverbial wagons, reporting that Barack seems to be a centrist on abortion. You be the judge and decide. Take a look at the graphic below. I also pasted the CDC article below for convenience. Here’s round 1 of the fight:

Whatever one thinks of the issue of abortion, this is exactly how to go after Obama on a major conservative issue. Knock that chip off his shoulder. Remove color from the equation and hit him as a proponent of slavery. It is a bold move that is high risk but high gain. McCain could have invoked this issue to persuade a number of voters who believe, strangely, that Obama is still pro-life. I still fail to understand why McCain, whose voting record is essentially Pro-Life, has failed to do it other than the fact that he doesn’t have a political reality of the power of the Christian people in America.

For the reader’s convenience, I have reproduced the CBN article below:

Christian Group Launches “Abortion President” Campaign against Barack Obama

July 7, 2008

Oh my. The fight against Barack Obama on abortion has officially begun. The Christian Defense Coalition, who are known to shock folks from time to time, have come up with a new campaign called: “Barack Obama: The Abortion President”. They are going to make clear that Obama wants taxpayers to foot the bill on abortions. They are also going to lay bare his record on abortion. They’ll conduct a news conference Tuesday in front of the Hart Senate Office Building where Obama’s Senate office is located.

Look at the picture they are unveiling. Pretty shocking. [The Oath: Picture is pasted above.] Read a statement below from Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition:

“Senator Obama talks about bringing hope, faith and change to American politics. We now see this is all just political ‘doublespeak.’ One of his top priorities as President would be protecting abortion rights and even expanding them. If elected, Senator Obama would become ‘The Abortion President,’ with the most extremist policies on abortion of any President in history.

“Senator Obama’s views on abortion are so radical that he even wants American citizens to pay for them. This would include Catholics, Evangelicals and all people of faith. He would also expand abortion rights through his passionate support of The Freedom of Choice Act.

“The Christian Defense Coalition will be working diligently over the next 5 months before the November elections to educate people of faith, especially Catholics, that Barack Obama wants them to pay for abortions. This is not a candidate who is concerned about social justice, hope and equality. Rather, this is candidate who will continue the violence and pain of abortion and refuse to end this tragic war against America’s women and children.”

Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan sent out the following statement:

“Barack Obama understands that the best way to reduce the need for abortions is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. He is committed to commonsense solutions to achieve that objective and to changing the tone of the discourse which for too long has devolved into false and negative attacks such as this that do nothing to accomplish that goal”

Folks, The Brody File has been telling you this sort of effort was coming. Some of these pro-life groups look at the polling and find that many Americans either think Obama is either pro-life or they’re not sure. This campaign is an attempt to set the record straight. Don’t think for a minute this is one ‘fringe” group. This effort represents the broader feelings with many conservative Evangelical groups.

This is Obama’s challenge with Evangelicals. He can talk about the social justice issues all he wants and yes, it resonates to a certain extent but unless he moves on abortion (not likely) he’ll have a problem. If he shows some support for parental notification laws or the annual fetal pain bill that moves through Congress then that will help insulate him to a degree on the extremist abortion tag.

The bigger issue here for the Obama campaign is just how widespread and vocal pro-life groups may end up being on this issue. Obama can’t afford the extreme liberal tag and if these groups continue to pound home the abortion theme, it doesn’t fit the narrative that Obama needs to be successful.