If we have learned one thing about Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race, it’s that no one will ever confuse him with a wizard.
When he was asked about his opinion of legal abortion, he was doing just fine until he remembered he was supposed to be a Republican.
He started by saying he didn’t think the federal government should be involved in abortion.
All right.
He said the decision should be left to women and their doctors …
Not bad.
Of course, he couldn’t leave it at that.
… and local political leaders.
Ah, if he only had a heart …
So Mayor Goober gets to make the choice?
Or Reverend Zeke on the City Council?
It sure is tough to be a Republican running for office these days. Or it would be if they actually gave a damn about telling the truth.
Earlier this year, it looked like it was going to be a big year for Republicans. In addition to the usual problems the president’s party faces in midterm elections, inflation and high gas prices were working against Democrats.
Then the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and changed the calculus.
For Republican candidates running in anywhere other than ruby red states, they had a difficult path to walk. They had to appear reasonable to pro-choice voters without upsetting their evangelical fans.
Take Herschel Walker, for example.
The Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Georgia said earlier this year that he was opposed to abortion in any and all cases, including to save the life of the mother.
Then a woman who was the mother of one of Walker’s children said that the former football star had made her have an abortion of an earlier pregnancy. She even had a cancelled check he had written her to pay for it.
Of course he denied it.
He’s a Republican, isn’t he?
Then when he debated his opponent, Sen. Rafael Warnock last week, he changed his tune on abortion. He said he supported a woman’s right to have an abortion in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
If it reminds you of anything, it ought to bring to mind the last four or five Republican Supreme Court nominees. To earn confirmation, all of them either refused to give an opinion on Roe v Wade or said it was established law.
They lied.
They nearly all lie.
They are, after all, Republicans.
There are certainly issues related to abortion that are worth discussing, but to have a real discussion, both sides need to be honest.
That doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.