Abortion a key election issue

Sometimes people ask me how they should vote. They know about my obsession with politics, and they think I might have the inside scoop. Far be it from me to interfere with anybody's elective enjoyment, but here's a word that can help decide how you cast your vote in November:\n Abortion. There, I said it!\n You don't hear the word often these days, especially from people running for president. \n It used to be we couldn't go a week without someone saying something silly or controversial about our favorite moral divide. It seemed the federal government was invented for taxes, troops and a gathering place for representatives who got elected because their constituents were pro-life, pro-choice or just didn't care.\nBelieve it or not, abortion used to decide a lot of votes. Heck, don't take my word for it. I'm sure anyone old enough to read this column remembers when politicians such as Pat Buchanan made abortion their battle call, pledging they would do whatever it took to keep those fetal hearts beating. Even moderates such as Bob Dole, George Bush the Elder and Al Gore (yes, Al Gore!) cast pro-life votes with a quiet zeal, showing their socially conservative supporters they did believe in the sanctity of life. \nThe other side showed compensatory enthusiasm. Liberals such as Pat Schroeder couldn't start a speech about women's rights without a nod to the most sacred right of all: the right to choose. \nThese days, it's out of place to hear the "A" word from any pre-presidential mouth. Even Pat Buchanan has toned down his attack on what conservatives once called our "culture of murder." The liberals in the race give only the occasional limp confirmation of their pro-choice support.\nTo understand this trend, you have to understand how the majority of Americans feel. Most people would blanch if their views on abortion were compared to either of the Pats (Buchanan or Schroeder). While stopping short of defining women's rights through abortion, Susie Soccer Mom isn't going to interfere with anyone's decision about whether to have a baby. Nobody likes the idea of abortion, but they don't like the idea of an abortion ban, either. \nWhat they do like is the status quo. As long as a safe operation is available and nobody has to think about the word "clotheshanger," we're all safe to mind our own business.\nPoliticians aren't stupid. They don't pay advisers, pollsters and hairdressers millions of dollars for nothing. Al Gore and George W. Bush know Americans are ambivalent about abortion. That's why from the beginning of the race, the candidates made it clear nobody really wanted to talk about it. If a particularly intrepid reporter brings it up, Bush says something about working to protect human life, and offers a vague support for a constitutional ban that will never happen. Gore lets loose his distant stare and makes a remark about how important it is to protect a woman's right to choose. (After eight years with Bill Clinton, he does support that … It's amazing what happens when you no longer represent conservative Tennessee in Congress.)\nBut there are forces at work the public knows little about.\nBush has a conservative base. Gore has a liberal base. Both are powerful groups with lots of money. Both have at least as much control over the candidates as their mothers do. And both have particular feelings about abortion. \nDon't scoff. Don't tell me nothing will ever happen, that there will never be enough support in Congress to pass an outright constitutional ban on abortion. I know that. I also know the opponents of abortion have their eyes on a far quicker path to victory.\nIt runs to the Supreme Court.\nThe next president will appoint two or three justices, replacing some of the more conservative faces. Right now, with those two lovable goons still in service, the court is carefully balanced on a reluctant but fairly certain support of Roe v. Wade. \nIf Gore's liberal base gets the chance, it will have him appoint justices who will vote to maintain that decision, resulting in a solidly pro-choice Supreme Court. The status quo will be secured. \nBush promises he won't use a judge's view on abortion as a litmus test for appointment to the Supreme Court. But if the conservative power base gets its way, Bush will appoint judges slobbering at the mouth to overturn the ruling. \nHow should you decide on a candidate? It seems this issue is a good place to start.