Deeds to Attack McDonnell on Abortion
Part Two of Two

"Deeds to Wage Risky Attack On Opponent's Abortion Views"
     Headline from a story in yesterday's Washington Post, referring to pro-abortion Virginia gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds (D) plan to attack pro-life gubernatorial candidate Robert McDonnell (R).

The story, by Rosalind S. Helderman and Sandhya Somashekhar, can be read in its entirety at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802533.html. So just me make a couple of quick comments.

Pro-life Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell

The idea behind the planned assault, to be launched this week, is to try to "portray his opponent's longtime efforts to restrict abortion as out of the mainstream," which is, however, "a potentially risky strategy for a Democrat in the once solidly conservative state," according to the reporters. But why does even the slavishly pro-abortion Washington Post concede that R. Creigh Deeds planned assault on Bob McDonnell is "risky"?

It's a "bold gamble," because pro-abortion Democrats running for governor in Virginia have demonized their pro-life Republicans largely under the radar. In the same direct mail pieces they caricatured their opponents, the Democrats, such as current governor Tim Kaine, typically portray themselves as "personally" pro-life and eager to enact "commonsense" legislation. So the first change is for Deeds to make his attack highly visible.

The other reason this is a really dicey offensive is because the proverbial man from Mars would look at Deeds' record and McDonnell's record, especially as attorney general, and readily conclude that the guy in the mainstream is McDonnell.

Pro-abortion Democratic Gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds

As a state Senator, Deeds is so far out that he opposed Virginia's Partial-Birth Infanticide Act, which McDonnell vigorously defended in the courts. Thanks in no small part to McDonnell's labor, the law was recently upheld by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. According to the Post, Deeds said over the weekend "that he would like abortion to be rare but favors no further legal restrictions on the practice and that he believes the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to an abortion should be upheld."

The Post went out of its way to point out that McDonnell spoke last year at the NRLC convention. So what crowd is Deeds running with? He's endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Virginia and NARAL of Virginia, the core of the Abortion Establishment.

"I am pleased that Creigh Deeds is showing his true colors on abortion," said Holly Smith, who heads the Virginia Society for Human Life PAC. "His views are rejected by 2/3rds of the country, and I am confident Virginians will reject his extremist views on abortion."

As we wrote last week, the growing unpopularity of pro-abortion President Barack Obama threatens to be a real drag on Deeds' chances in November. The irony is that while Deeds can do nothing about the carryover from Obama's fading popularity, he has decided on his own to take a step that can only hurt him with voters in Virginia.

Part One