Posted on 02/27/2005 8:20:04 PM PST by Sonny M
A group of wealthy Hollywood donors is raising money to fight the Democratic leadership's first choice to run for a Senate seat in Rhode Island because that candidate opposes abortion rights.
Victoria Hopper, wife of the actor Dennis Hopper, enlisted 16 actors, producers and philanthropists to sign a letter objecting to the potential candidacy of Representative Jim Langevin, who is being recruited for the 2006 race by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The letter writers say they support the primary candidacy of Matt Brown, Rhode Island's secretary of state, for the seat now held by Lincoln Chafee, a Republican.
"This is even more important than one precious Senate seat; it is a fight to protect women and families, and a fight for the core and soul of our party," Ms. Hopper wrote in the letter. "Unbelievably, some conservative D.C. Democrats have recruited Representative Jim Langevin, a radically anti-choice candidate."
Asserting that "money is the biggest and loudest message" to the Democratic leadership, the letter said "that we must not waste precious Democratic resources by fighting against ourselves in the primary process with unsuitable candidates."
The letter is the latest sign of resistance from abortion rights supporters to the efforts of some Democrats to find middle ground in the abortion debate. Abortion rights groups say their constituents are heavy contributors to the party.
Ms. Hopper's letter included a roster of big Hollywood donors, including Chris McGurk, vice chairman of MGM; Cindy Horn, wife of Alan Horn, president of Warner Brothers; the actors Camryn Manheim, Christine Lahti, Kathy Najimy and Heather Thomas; Susie Tompkins Buell, a founder of the Esprit clothing company; and Callie Khouri, the screenwriter of "Thelma and Louise."
Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the party was looking for the strongest possible candidate for the Rhode Island race "without applying any litmus test."
Michael Guilfoyle, a spokesman for Mr. Langevin, said, "The support of Rhode Island voters is more important than money from Hollywood."
We could actually see a democrat running to the right of a republican and a republican running to the left of the democrat.
The democratic party still has no shame, but at least this is a sign of something.
How does murdering babies protect women and families?
Langevin is hard-core pro-embryonic research, which is a horrible position. Still, he votes against government funding of abortion, which is a huge improvement over Chaffee. Might have to vote Demo--a rare thing--if I were in RI. If only Chaffee were just a bit liberal, instead of so whacko. And RI now has a conservative, pro-life Republican governor!
Does anyone in Rhode Island care what a bunch of rich elitists in Hollywood thinks?.......
Heh. They don't hear us calling them "anti-life." Leave it to a lib to harness the incredible power of language to conjure up the red herring that pro-lifers are against freedom.
So, are they going to write to protest the attempts to recruit Casey in Penn? Or will they let that slide because Santorum is evil incarnate? LOL
Yeah, but I don't have a clue what.
In any event, the loss of Chafee means almost nothing. He always seems about to "go Jeffords", and if he does it will be in the same cowardly, knife-in-the-back way that Jeffords left - - right after using the GOP to win re-election.
Best to dispense with the clown now and then go after the seat with a real Republican candidate in 6 years. That is, if Rhode Island is even worth it. (I have the distinct impression that the place is pretty much a hopeless liberal sewer at this point anyway.)
Sure. The Democrat politicians who gladly suck up their money.
Same as everywhere else in the country.
Just as the South was solidly for the Democrats for so many years, the northeast will be solidly blue for a long while. Since its population is shrinking, advantage belongs to the red regions, which are growing.
Good question.
Am I reading this right ..?? The dems are mobilizing to attack the dem candidate .. LOL! This is just too good to be true.
Murdering babies is "the core and soul" of the DNC. - There's a surprise NOT!
(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")
This would also tend to dissuade Chaffee from switching parties.
I think he should have gotten the message by now.
The democratic party thinks Chaffee is a joke and part of the campaign against him is going to involve telling people he is the laughingstock of the senate.
It's funny, because the pro-life dem is by far their best chance at winning. He'll get huge crossover votes from R's because Chaffee is so liberal.
I think Chaffee will probably beat any pro-abort dem.
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