Ignoring the polls, GOP sees no risk in Planned Parenthood shutdown fight

[applegrove]

Ignoring the polls, GOP sees no risk in Planned Parenthood shutdown fight

By David Weigel at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/04/ignoring-the-polls-gop-sees-no-risk-in-planned-parenthood-shutdown-fight/

"SNIP............


Any surprise about the Republicans' calmness here, or their willingness to float a spending fight tied to Planned Parenthood, ignores the lesson that the party learned in 2013. It also ignores the power that Republicans see in this issue, ever since the release of videos which show Planned Parenthood executives coldly discussing the dismemberment of fetuses for (legal) tissue research. Republicans do not fear the politics of a "shutdown" fight, and they believe that Democrats fear the politics of defending Planned Parenthood.

That logic survived a serious test on Tuesday. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the lead sherpa of the bill, had told The Washington Post that it might attract two to four Democrats. Only two Democrats, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), voted his way. Both come from red states, and both are up for reelection in what could be a dangerous 2018 midterm. Democrats were not abandoning Planned Parenthood.

Give it time, said Republicans. "In a representative democracy, a lot is going to figure on how the American people weigh in," said freshman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) "Every video has been worse than the previous, and I think some minds can be changed. At some point a moral conscience can be pricked, and even issues thought to be settled can be revisited."

Polling does not back that up. Democrats, who have either refused to weigh in on the videos themselves or briefly criticized them, have stuck to a script about the need to keep funding Planned Parenthood. A Monmouth University poll taken since the start of the scandal found that only 42 percent of voters favor defunding the organization, compared to 47 percent who don't. An NBC News poll released after the Senate vote found that 45 percent of Americans had a positive view of Planned Parenthood, compared to 30 percent who didn't.



..............SNIP"

[Triana]

1. " some minds can be changed" - and the American Taliban isn't above facilitating that..

....based on SHEER LIES.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Infuriating But True, But Why Should R's Worry?

It's infuriating but true, but why should Republicans worry about voter wrath when they bash and defund Planned Parenthood?

As much as I hate acknowledging it, far, far too many of the single women and the struggling married women who use Planned Parenthood's services don't bother to do what it takes to make PP-bashing a political death sentence. They don't bother to vote.

I don't for the life of me understand the mental disconnect that doesn't allow these women to see how their legislators', their congressional reps', and their senators' actions could affect their health and that of their babies. If they were able to draw lines from A to B, elected Republicans would be as scarce as whooping cranes.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Cowardly Democratic politicians and pundits are afraid to call a manufactured political scam what it is? WTF, did you

learn nothing after the ACORN cowardice and capitulation to lies and propaganda?


http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/07/msnbcs-gop-debate-analysis-included-conservativ/204837

[LiberalAndProud]

4. Might I suggest that the Koch agenda is not to be challenged by polls ...

This is about framing public opinion to agree with the wealthy elite faux-religiosity of the the king makers. FUCK EM.