The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Bob Novak reports on the dilemma faced by Democrats who don't want to anger either the abortions for all lobby or the majority of voters, who oppose partial-birth abortion. Harry Reid attempts, rather unconvincingly, to walk back his disappointed comment (second item) when the PBA ban he voted for was upheld last week.

Recalling his many votes against partial birth abortion, he indicated he supported the court's decision. "I just don't like what Alito has done on other cases," he said. What other cases? "I can't recall," Reid replied, but he promised aides would let me know.

They did so several hours later. Out of more than 50 decisions that Alito has participated in, Reid disagreed with four.

So Reid claims that his comment was essentially a non sequitur. Um, okay.

This bit is especially revealing:

Thomas Carper, the low-profile junior senator from Delaware, tries to walk the middle of the road on abortion. He was rated at 55 percent pro-choice by NARAL in 2006, but he was one of the 17 Democrats who voted to ban partial birth abortion three years earlier. Carper said after the court upheld the 2003 bill: "I think a number of people who voted for it thought that the court would ultimately strike it down."

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if you've taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," it's not okay to vote for a bill that you think is unconstitutional.

topics:
Harry Reid, Abortion, Constitution, Law, NATO