To many, it seems the world is changing every minute, constantly transforming, yet there are some who, when looking at the world from an all-around perspective, realize that, for the most part, things stay the same. This summer in California, it is the same dry heat as last summer, and so on.
It can be said that the same is true in politics and the Republican and Democratic conventions proved that, although it seems things are always changing, little really does.
Conflicting views on abortion continue to separate the parties right down the middle and influence voters all the way to the polls. The fact that most Democrats are pro-choice and most Republicans pro-life may never change. Another truth is that many Americans are indeed pro-choice, regardless of their party affiliation, making the pro-life Republican image of purity even harder to preserve.
Bob Dole knows there are many pro-choice Republicans, but that the strong Christian right of the party is the most vocal. In the effort to voice concern for diverse opinions on abortion within his party, as well as to gain much needed votes in November, Dole latched onto the concept of tolerance to drive his campaign forward.
In turn, the media made sure the Republicans stuck to their guns at their convention and made it a point to scrutinize whether they were going to allow pro-choice speakers at the convention.
The GOP came through with more than adequate representation of pro-choice speakers at the convention, two of whom were former Chief of Staff Colin Powell and keynote speaker Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY).
However, the media, after chasing the Republican bandwagon, hung themselves when they not only did not question whether there would be pro-life speakers at the Democratic convention, but did not raise it as an issue even after no pro-life speakers were featured.
To those looking at the big picture it is no big deal—many Democrats are pro-choice anyway. But to those who truly support the idea of inclusive parties, the Democratic failure to allow speakers from both sides of the abortion issue seems like a double standard.
And to the media and the Democrats, this is acceptable. Could the media be taking sides by not holding them up to the same standards as the Republicans?
Professor Sidney Plotkin, a political analyst of public policy at Vassar College said, “Dole is being held to higher standards now because the Democrats have showed more openness to dissent from their party’s norm. For example, the welfare reform bill was signed by President Clinton.”
While it is true that Dole did put the Republican Party directly in the media’s way in an attempt to preserve the image of openness and tolerance, it is also true that former Gov. William Casey of Pennsylvania was denied a chance to speak at the Democratic conventions in both 1992 and 1996. Although Casey himself was trying to convey an image of harmony, he is also pro-life.
However, it appears the media did not investigate many contradictions in Democratic strategies at the convention. If the Democratic party is so inclusive, why were those with opposing views on abortion denied the right to speak to their own party? Why was that not exposed?
At least the GOP is making a public effort to include more than just the traditional norm in active participation. The Democrats are so cocky about winning the presidential election that they did not even seem to want the minority votes that they may have gained at their convention. Maybe they already know that, even in the face of change, nothing really does.
Raechel Fittante, a junior journalism major, is managing editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at fittante@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu.
