NRL News
Page 1
June-July 2011
Volume 38
Issue 6-7

The “New Normal”:
A More Pro-Life America and Falling Obama Approval Ratings

By Dave Andrusko

For sheer excitement and a sense of anticipation there are few occasions that can match the run-up to National Right to Life’s annual convention. By the time you read this editorial, the premier pro-life educational event of the year will have been completed, but the impact of these three days in Florida will be felt for months and months to come.

The central focus of the convention, as it is for National Right to Life and its 50 state affiliates year round, is to deflect, detour, and, where possible, defeat the Obama Abortion Agenda at the national level and enact as many protective statutes as possible at the state level.

If you read my interview on page 1 with Mary Spaulding Balch, director of NRL’s Department of State Legislation, you’ll come away knowing that we’ve passed significant legislation around the country and—equally important—established the foundation to enact protective legislation even in the toughest states.

At the federal level, thanks to a solid and dedicated pro-life Republican leadership in the House, we are doing everything humanly possible, given the brute reality that the Senate and the White House are in the hands of pro-abortionists. Markers are being set down in the House of Representatives, and the electorate is being shown what would happen if pro-lifers held sway across the board. (See story, page one.)

Looking to the future, there are reasons to be very optimistic. Pro-abortion President Obama, no matter how much cover his adoring fans in the media give him, is exceedingly vulnerable. If you look at polling data, not just recently, but over time, the “new normal” for Obama is low approval ratings from a public that simply lacks confidence in him.

In early June we wrote a series of posts for www.nationalrighttolifenews.org (which I hope you are reading!) that prove the point—one from Gallup, another from the Washington Post/ABC News.

Referring to the latter, in addition to the conclusion that “Americans’ disapproval of how he is handling the nation’s economy and the deficit has reached new highs,” we find that Obama’s approval ratings are 49% disapprove/47% approve. And 37% said they strongly disapproved to only 27% who strongly approved, a serious intensity gap.

Historically one of the most telling indices is the response to the “direction” question. Not even a third (32%) said the country is going in the right direction, while two-thirds (66%) said the country is on the wrong track. Had the survey not undersampled Republicans, Obama would be in deeper trouble than the already low 47% approval rating would suggest.

And the debate held in New Hampshire that included seven Republican presidential candidates confirmed that the current crop of GOP candidates are all taking a pro-life stand. (See page x.) We will be lectured incessantly that the position on abortion of the two parties’ presidential nominee is irrelevant, but please remember that we are told that every election cycle.

That attempt to dampen pro-life enthusiasm has never proved to be true. Being on the right side—in defense of life—is a boon to presidential candidates among those people who base their vote on abortion. And that is also true in the overwhelming percentage of races for the House and Senate.

On page 27, you’ll find reassuring data conclusively demonstrating how pro-life the American electorate genuinely is. According to Gallup a total of 61% of respondents said abortion should either be legal in only a few circumstances (39%) or illegal in all circumstances (22%). Only 37% said abortion should either be legal in all circumstances (27%) or under most circumstances (10%).

This is not to minimize the challenges. President Obama may have lost the confidence of the American people, but he remains a hero to NARAL and, most especially, to Planned Parenthood. There seems to be no limit to how far he will go to protect PPFA.

But all the reports about PPFA personnel acting dreadfully is eroding the “brand ” of the largest abortion provider in the nation. That and the truth that (a) the revenues generated by aborting unborn babies are crucial to PPFA’s bottom line, and (b) that PPFA is bent on expanding the number of abortions it already performs—more than 332,000 in 2009 alone!

The truth is on our side. The American people are on our side. If we continue to do our part—and I know with all my heart you will—one day the littlest Americans will be welcomed in life and protected in law.