Carroll Campbell's Dirty Word-Play & the Truth About Abortion

So I'm down here for an as yet undetermined period of time in the Deep South; Charleston. The attitude down here in Charleston is a little different from the aesthetic I'd ordinarily been accustomed to; the pace of life here is a little slower, the people are certainly kinder, and the overnight scene...well there is virtually no overnight scene even though Wal-Mart and the Harris Teeter chain sure would like there to be. Everything here in Charleston is a little different from the more edgy, aggressive policies I'd been used to; including the politics.

Now I don't want to go pegging folks one way or the other but the movement down here is largely conservative. They don't flush it out in your face like in New York or Los Angeles, but truly; the attitude is there. It's more kept to the television commercials, the flyers in the mail, and the 'around the kitchen table' sort of thing. Which is fine; it's actually the way I'd prefer it (in cities people will ream you out right there if they disagree with you. At least let me believe that we're friends as you secretly loathe my whole agenda.)

Not that I'm all that political anymore anyway. It's such a chore and I'd just really rather not be bothered. I'm sure there will be some period in my life; maybe when I'm older, maybe when I've had kids, maybe when I've made a lot of money; that I'll be front and center in politics again. But from where I sit, right now, they're all corrupt. R's and D's. So I don't really care all that much one way or the other.

I was looking though today at a flyer for the upcoming election. It was a lovely little thing sitting on my grand-daddy's table. The photograph was of a smiling new child and the caption read "Carroll Campbell Is Pro Life" I wanted to just hang it up on my wall that kid was so cute. It was more the message that got me writing this piece though. I mean, could you be any more coded.

What our dear friend Carroll Campbell (or her press office) was saying was that her opponent is Pro Abortion.

I got to thinking about what Carroll Campbell's opponents' card would say on this issue. Down here in the Deep South it probably wouldn't say anything at all about abortion. It probably would say something about lower taxes for the working class, money for schools, or no Wall Street tax breaks for special interests. Something generously liberal. Let's spread it all around. But not two peeps about abortion, I'd wager.

But then I considered it and thought well really, what would Carroll Campbell's opposition say? There is no way they would ever claim to be Pro Abortion. This opponent would say that they "support a woman's right to choose." Abortion is always a final decision and one that I think every woman does not take lightly. I don't think anyone likes abortion; Carroll Campbell, Carroll Campbell's ballot opponents, the good people of Charleston or anyone else. But babies happen in a lot of ways and there probably are instances where an abortion is the "least wrong" thing to do. Like in the instance of rape or threatening the mothers (and by extension the child's) life, or other circumstances.

So why do we have to drag the issue of abortion back to the table every single election cycle? Is this endearing little child's face really going to sway you for or against an election candidate? If so maybe you should get back to tending over the real issues of the day and leave every single woman's right to choose far from your consciousness.