Posted on 12/05/2001 6:50:44 AM PST by randita
Pro-choice Riordan looks to GOP women
Support could be key in governor's race
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, December 5, 2001
Most Republicans haven't been eager to make abortion an issue in the coming 2002 gubernatorial primary election. But Richard Riordan, the former Los Angeles mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate, is already doing it.
Not only has Riordan made clear his support for abortion rights and public funding of abortions, but he is also appealing to an influential group of voters who have been increasingly disillusioned: GOP women who support abortion rights.
"I don't think choice is the only issue -- but where a candidate stands on abortion reflects their whole policy and whole perspective," said Bay Area literary agent Jillian Manus-Salzman, a GOP activist.
Riordan is scheduled to appear at a fund-raiser today in Atherton that is expected to generate $100,000 for the leading pro-choice GOP women's lobby, the WISH List. Already, so many women want tickets to the event, at Manus- Salzman's home, that the local police department had to be consulted about crowd control, she said.
"Bring them on," Manus-Salzman said. "I'm so sick of (conservatives) stealing our party, and our candidates. . . . We're going to create our own march, our own soldiers." Riordan's stand on abortion -- and his ability to appeal to California's increasingly pro-choice female electorate -- may prove critical in the March Republican gubernatorial primary election.
Riordan has described himself as personally "anti-abortion," but in a recent interview with The Chronicle, he underscored his strong support for abortion rights. His stance contrasts sharply with that of his two GOP primary challengers, Secretary of State Bill Jones, and businessman Bill Simon, both strongly anti-abortion rights.
"I'm in favor of the right for women to make their own moral choice," Riordan said. "I believe economically disadvantaged women should have access to medical funds, so they have the same right to make the choice as any other woman. You're not really giving the choice to somebody unless they have the wherewithal (to pay for an abortion)."
And Riordan noted that abortion is among the issues that have cost the GOP dearly in recent elections, as when 1998 gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren went down to a landslide defeat against Democrat Gray Davis. "Look at the vast majority of Republican women -- they're pro-choice," Riordan said. "We've lost most of them in the last couple of elections."
But some Republicans say Riordan's position will be a challenge with more conservative primary voters.
"GOP primary voters are probably the most pro-life subset of the whole electorate you can find, . . . and married GOP women are probably the most pro- life group of all," said strategist Jeff Flint, who is working with the Simon campaign. "I don't think the evidence supports the suggestion that a lot of (Republican) women have walked away."
Flint argues that Simon, although pro-life, simply doesn't fit the stereotype of an intolerant hard-liner.
"He has a clear record of being compassionate to people in need. He runs Covenant House, which has turned around the lives of teenagers in need. . . . He can't be portrayed as a heartless guy who wants to tell women what to do with their lives."
And Jones, also strongly against abortion rights, has eschewed the hard- line stance, expressing compassion and concern for women on the issue -- and noting that Roe vs. Wade is still the law of the land.
Candy Straight, president of the Washington-based WISH List, says Riordan's views are resonating with women in California.
"Dick Riordan has had a record of doing well with women voters -- 59 percent of women voters supported him in his last election," Straight said.
Straight said a September WISH List poll of 800 likely GOP primary voters showed that 41 percent of voters who described themselves as pro-life agreed that they would not meddle with a woman's right to make her own choice on the issue. It signals that Riordan's stance mirrors that of most GOP voters, and "the Republican Party, if it wants to win, has to get somebody from the center, " Straight argued.
Judy Buchanan, a Republican who heads the Bay Area-based nonprofit Bring Me a Book Foundation, said Riordan's appeal to women on the issue could help revive a party that has fallen on hard times.
"He has a great opportunity, as a centrist, to bring back women to the Republican Party," she said. "If you're pro-choice, you're more pro- environment, pro-education, and anti-guns. It's not just a single issue. It tells a lot about a candidate."
Manus-Salzman said Riordan has, at least, revived something of a fighting spirit among more moderate female GOP voters. "I was embarrassed to be a Republican," she said. "But my grandfather, a Jewish Republican, said, 'You don't leave something you love, . . . you stay and fight.'
"My goal is to bring women back through the same door they left," she said. "And he's handing us the opportunity." E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 19
I don't live there, and I don't know about Lundgren, who (as I hear it) ran an absolutely stupid campaign. But I can say that that this woman attends meetings of other powerful, prominent GOP women, and if her take on this is correct, you are wrong. And I'm pro-life, but you can't stick your head in the sand.
That's Riordan code-speak for "We should kill minorities before they're born."
Compare and contrast (well, there is no contrast) to the White Aryan Resistance's official position on abortion:
"Among non-Whites, invest in ghetto abortion clinics. Help to raise money for free abortions. Abortion clinic syndicates throughout North America, that primarily operate in non-White areas and receive tax support, should be promoted."
Eugenics. No longer a stealth cause among Republicans. Y'all ought to be proud.
This is a fallacy I always find irritating. Almost 80% (78%) of abortion providers will be found in economically disadvantaged, Black or minority communities. Pro-life Blacks will argue it was planned this way. Economically disadvantaged women have access to very cheap abortions right in their back yard.
"He has a great opportunity, as a centrist, to bring back women to the Republican Party," she said. "If you're pro-choice, you're more pro- environment, pro-education, and anti-guns.”
A very broad stereotype in my opinion, especially the “pro-education” comment.
However, I don’t live in California, but the opinions and statements in this article are probably true. I have a few Pro-Choice, (strong) Republican friends who I make room for in my life. I have managed to sway one to the Pro-Life side. Still working on the others. LOL
Interesting article. Thanks for posting it.
What annoys me to know end are these people who call themselves "personally pro-life", but would "never stand in the way of a woman's choice." What moral relativistic cowardly garbage. Sorry to use such strong language, but if one believes that abortion is murder and wrong, then isn't it wrong for the lady down the street, or the teenager in high school? People who hold to the above "position" are really just cowards who haven't the integrity to own up to what they are really advocating: the death of the unborn.
I would rather these people just come out and say they are in favor of a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. Don't insult my intelligence by claiming to be two things at once. I have less than no respect for people who do.
Yep, Repubilcan hard times, huh? We got the President, the House of Representatives, the Senate (well, did have it by a hair), alot of governorships, state houses. I think she's talking about HER WING OF THE PARTY. The wing that has not been able to change the pro-life plank. The wing that tried to get Christine Todd Witman to run for President just because she favors unborn deaths.
Hard times, yeah, for people who like killing unborn children. No matter how they dress it up, it's still murder. When Republicans put forth an objectionable pro-death candidate, the majority of Republicans generally stay home. Them's the facts.
The libs didn't make this mess overnight. We won't fix it overnight. But if we can get out for good candidates, AND show we are also willing to work for "moderates" that will work for our guys (Giuliani is one shining example of this), then we can gain a lot more friends and influence than if we stay home in a huff.
Right. Since according to the LA TIMES poll the day after, Lungren had a net gain on the abortion issues. The problem with Lungren must have been that no one perceived him as a real prolifer.
I agree with you Randita, unless we have an unabashed conservative who sticks to his principles, conservative voters will stay home.
Lets all join Randita and support conservatives like Bill Simon!
It is a well-standing lie that women are overwhelmingly pro-choice. Women are by and large PRO-LIFE, but they are so ridiculed by society, the media, and militant pro-aborts that they remain silent on the issue, quietly voting or sitting out elections because they can't stomach their choices.
Lungren didn't lose because he was pro-life, he lost because he ran an awful campaign, was boring and uninspiring, and had no message. The L.A. Times did an exit poll that showed that people who said that abortion was one of the deciding factors in their decision in the race, voted 13% for Lungren and 12% for Davis, a slight edge for the pro-life Lungren!
Riordan is liberal straight down the ticket, not just on abortion. And I, for one, can not stomach people who think that the right to kill innocent unborn babies without anesthesia should be a deciding factor on who should represent us.
Sadly, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land right now. However, we can change the hearts and minds of the American people by talking about the realities of abortion and giving real, compassionate alternatives to women faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
Riordan is just more of the same, another white guy who doesn't realize that abortion destroys more than one life.
Here's a great link that totally substantiates that women are prolife.
Susan B. Anthony free republic link
I, for one, will NEVER settle for Riordan, who is more liberal than Davis.
"If you're pro-choice, you're more pro- environment, pro-education, and anti-guns. It's not just a single issue. It tells a lot about a candidate."
Kinda clear what these people are trying to do - purge conservatives from the GOP.
That is so right, whoever said it. Being pro-abortion almost always means that the candidate is liberal on everything else. I'm not that political, really -- except on the Life issue -- but I don't understand why anyone liberal would vote for Riordan over Davis? They are so much alike! Why Riordan? Why not Davis? The devil you know ...
Inquiring minds want to know.
We have a whole generation of children who are functionally illiterate because they weren't taught to read with phonics. We have a generation of girls with low self-esteem because they think they need to "put out" to be like everyone else, and their teacher says it's OK. THen, the condom breaks, they get pregnant, and they have an abortion, and their mental health and their soul is irreparably harmed.
I read somewhere that Riordan said something like "If it's for the children, I'm for it." What the heck does that mean? There is a lot of stuff out there that is "for the children" that is BAD BAD BAD.
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