What I Want To Hear

One of the low points of the presidential debates in 04 was listening to each candidate try to explain why they held the positions they did on abortion. Kerry spun some opaque and pathetic nonsense about not imposing views on others while Bush responded with something well meaning but weak and mealy-mouthed about valuing every child as a gift.

Some day I really want to hear a pro-life politician knock the ball out of the park by saying:

"Like my opponent, I personally believe that human life begins at the moment of conception. And like my opponent, I understand that many of my fellow Americans do not share that view. I would like to speak to those Americans now.

"You and I disagree about when a newly created life becomes a human being, worthy of protection under the law. I respect your views. However, we must each act in obedience to our moral convictions. If I promised tonight to set aside my own deeply held beliefs and advocate a pro-choice position, you might rightly ask yourself: What other convictions will this man betray under public pressure? If he is willing to support the destruction of what he believes are human beings with human rights, who is safe when this man is in charge?

"In our country we have disagreements about big issues, issues that cut to the very core of what a human being is. We cannot hope that our elected officials will agree with us on every issue, but we can demand that they be honest about those convictions, and that they act straightforwardly in accordance to them."