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Obama Abortion Agenda Solidifies Silent Pro-Life Majority at the Center
Tweet Share on Facebook May 15, 2009 Comment (17)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
There may be a new political center forming on the abortion issue. A new Gallup poll out today finds 51 percent of Americans now identify themselves as "pro-life" and 42 percent as "pro-choice." According to Gallup, this is the first time a majority of Americans have identified themselves as pro-life since the organization began asking this question in 1995. A year ago, it was almost the opposite: 50 percent called themselves "pro-choice," and 44 percent "pro-life." So the center has shifted just in the past year, since the pro-life President Bush left office.
Here's the interesting part politically:
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With Google Voice, Say Goodbye to Voicemail Once and for All
Tweet Share on Facebook May 14, 2009 Comment (7)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Great post recently by Farhad Manjoo on Slate.com predicting the coming demise of voicemail:
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Obama Seems to Care About U.S. Soldiers' Lives; Why Doesn't the ACLU?
Tweet Share on Facebook May 13, 2009 Comment (12)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The White House has reversed course and is now seeking to block the release of photos showing alleged abuse of detainees, an administration official has just told the New York Times. You don't have to be in favor of abuse to see that releasing these photos was a bad idea. Here's the quote from the White House source:
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Republicans Should Embrace "Party of No" Label
Tweet Share on Facebook May 12, 2009 Comment (43)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
In the current issue of the Weekly Standard, Fred Barnes makes the best case I've seen (and the only one) for the GOP to embrace being the Party of No—and why, historically, it's led to Republican landslides in 1938, 1946, 1966, 1980 and 1994. And while he encourages new ideas from Republican thinkers, Barnes believes it's more important to oppose bad ideas from the Obama administration on a number of policy fronts:
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Republicans Reject Women When They Shed Moderates
Tweet Share on Facebook May 11, 2009 Comment (24)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Following up on my post last week about what it's like to be a Republican woman in Washington, D.C.--the "state" with the highest percentage of Democrats in the nation--it seems the Republican women on Capitol Hill are feeling lonely too. Politico's got an article today about the "minority in a minority," documenting the gender gap in terms of elected women. Republican women hold less than ten percent of GOP seats in the House and Senate, while Democratic women hold more than double that percentage in their party. Why are Republican women reluctant to throw their hat in the ring?
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Jack Kemp Remembered for His Passion, Ideas, and American Dream
Tweet Share on Facebook May 8, 2009 Comment (5)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
I'm just back from Jack Kemp's funeral in a standing-room-only Washington National Cathedral. It was official Washington at its best—not one but two busloads of congressmen and senators arrived from Capitol Hill, current and former Cabinet members, columnists, think tank types, and former members of the White House press corps all packed in next to each other.
But it wasn't all old white guys. There were plenty of kids—the Kemps have 17 grandchildren of all ages, some asleep in adults' arms, others with boyfriends in tow. The Howard University choir sang "Thank You Jesus" before the most diverse crowd I've ever seen at a Washington funeral (unfortunately I've been to a few over the years).
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Rush Limbaugh Says "Democrat" Colin Powell Should Leave Republican Ranks
Tweet Share on Facebook May 7, 2009 Comment (22)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
Today's Politico reports that Rush Limbaugh is suggesting that Colin Powell should leave the Republican Party. Under the headline, "Rush to Powell: Go Be a Democrat," here's the story:
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Gallup Poll Counts Fewer Republican Women, but Are They in Camouflage?
Tweet Share on Facebook May 6, 2009 Comment (6)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
This just in from the Gallup Poll: the number of women identifying themselves as Republicans over the last decade has been on a continuous decline, and the first quarter of 2009 is no different:
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Supreme Court Justice Caroline Kennedy Would Be Good for Women and Families
Tweet Share on Facebook May 5, 2009 Comment (9)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
Joan Biskupic, who has covered the Supreme Court for years for USA Today and the Washington Post and who is the author of the definitive biography of Sandra Day O'Connor, writes about the options facing President Obama in naming a replacement for Justice Souter:
During the campaign ... Obama expressed his preference for a justice with real-world experience in the mode of former California governor Earl Warren, who presided as the court struck down school segregation and helped generate a civil rights revolution.
"I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory," Obama said Friday. "It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives."
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Mourning Jack Kemp, a Big Tent Republican and "Bleeding Heart Conservative"
Tweet Share on Facebook May 4, 2009 Comment (5)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
Months ago, I heard from a friend that Jack Kemp was dying of cancer and that his children had been called to his bedside to say goodbye. That was just after Christmas, and the fact that he fought until May is no surprise, knowing his feisty personality and love of life. But here's the surprise: I heard the news not from a former Kemp staffer or some connected conservative, but from an African-American woman who is an enthusiastic Democrat and good friend of the Kemp family. The fact that she knew before the Republican establishment knew says volumes about Jack Kemp.
Mary Kate Cary
Mary Kate Cary is a former White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. She currently writes speeches for political and business leaders.
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