Abortion Advocates Tell Barack Obama: You Better Pick Hillary Clinton for VP
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 4, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — With just weeks to go before the Democratic convention at the end of August, pro-abortion activists have one message for their presidential nominee: you better pick Hillary Clinton as your running mate. Obama’s decision could have a significant impact on the November elections.
Several abortion advocates spoke with the political web site Politico and said Obama has an obligation to pick the woman who came the closest ever to becoming a major party’s nominee for president.
Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 pro-abortion vice-presidential nominee, said Obama should be "gracious" enough to offer Clinton the vice-presidency because of her close second place finish.
She said Obama can’t pick any of the other pro-abortion women political pundits are speculating he might choose.
"Those are women who we spent our lifetime helping run for office" and that "a lot of us are not happy with these women for not supporting Hillary because they came to us for help based in large part on their gender," she said.
While Ferraro took the high road in the comments, other abortion activists pulled no punches.
Clinton supporters "would be outraged to know she was not given that right of first refusal," Marcia Pappas, the head of the New York chapter of NOW, told Politico.
Added Pamela Sumners, the director of Missouri NARAL: "Clinton is now seen as the reigning dean of the women’s movement. It’s sort of Moses gets all the way to the mountain and doesn’t get to the promised land — and I think there would be people really angry about that."
Polls are showing about 25 percent of Clinton supporters say they will not back Obama for president and his decision to pick another running mate other than the pro-abortion New York senator could seal their decisions.
At the same time, selecting Hillary — who has high negative ratings of her own and who has long been the top nemesis on the name of pro-life opponents — could motivate pro-life voters more to support John McCain.
But Emily’s List president Ellen Malcolm, who met with Obama privately along with other abortion advocates at a closed meeting last week, told Politico that Obama has been working hard to reach out to abortion advocates and overcome potential concerns about picking someone else.
"There is disappointment out there," she said. But, the "Obama campaign is taking important steps to reach out to and welcome and incorporate Hillary Clinton supporters."
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