Stem-cell policy will rest with Bush

June 30, 2005

For about a month now, the religious right and other conservative activists have been waging an uphill battle to convince the Senate not to do what the House has already done — approve a measure to greatly expand federal funding for stem-cell research. Now, they’ve reconsidered the political landscape and are giving up on the chamber altogether.

Several leading conservative advocacy groups are revising their strategy on embryonic-stem-cell research by backing an up-or-down vote on a bill to expand federal funding in a shift that could force President Bush to issue his first veto.

Pro-life conservative groups have brought considerable pressure to bear on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to scuttle legislation that would lift restrictions on federal spending on the research that Bush put in place in 2001. But some groups have decided to test Bush’s vow to veto the bill and lifted their opposition to allowing the legislation to reach the Senate floor — where it is expected to pass with a significant majority.

The truth is, the far right wasn’t going to do much on this anyway. Dems and just enough Republicans had established enough support to force the bill onto the floor, defeat a filibuster, and send it to the president’s desk. The religious right may not have wanted the bill to come up for a vote, but this was a losing proposition from the start.

There are some interesting angles at play here, including the fact that congressional Republicans are ignoring White House demands and the president’s discomfort with rejecting a popular piece of legislation with his first-ever veto. With the GOP base willing to give the Senate a pass here, it’ll also be worth taking note of how many Republicans will go ahead and vote for expanding funding now that the religious right has given up on Senate lobbying.

But in the end, it’s going to all come down to Bush. For the first time this year, Congress will have put aside partisan differences and come together to back a good bill that will offer hope to countless Americans and enjoys overwhelming public support.

I’ve already noted that Bush has given himself just a little wiggle room if he wants it, but it’s going to come down to whether the president really wants to stand in the way of groundbreaking, life-saving medical research or not. He can rise above petty demands of his radical base or he can prove to the nation that James Dobson is calling the shots on the White House’s social/domestic agenda.

Stay tuned.

This will be a great issue in ’06. . . assuming the Democrats use it aggressively to pillory incumbent Republicans who vote against it.

Put the sick people on the screen, blast the faulty logic of throwing away embryos versus utilizing them for good (never “harvesting� embryos, btw, since this is a terrible frame), and hit the public before the nut jobs can frame the issue.

  • This will be a great issue in ’06. . . assuming the Democrats use it aggressively to pillory incumbent Republicans who vote against it.

    Trust me, Dems are salivating at the prospect of making stem-cell research a top-tier campaign issue in ’06. It fits into practically every narrative Dems want to play up: Bush and GOP are out of touch, they’re beholden to far-right special interests, they’re putting politics ahead of public health, etc.

    Don’t get me wrong, I want Bush to sign the legislation — even if it gives him a bump in the polls — because I know this research will help so many people. But if Bush does veto it, this will be a big political problem for the GOP.

  • correct me if an am wrong, but we did not elect dobson to run the country as his own, correct?

  • Everything we know about Bush suggests he will not
    sign the legislation. His famous “catapult the
    propaganda” was very revealing. Before he uttered
    this poor, tortured phrase which turned around and
    bit him on the ass, he explained his philosophy of
    pounding away at the people, over and over again,
    until “they” get it “right.” He’s a seriously deluded
    man.

  • Stem cell research is so promising, and so potentially
    rewarding not only to the sick and suffering, but to
    the providers of medicines and pharmaceuticals, that
    Bush’s veto of any bill will have a negligible effect
    on global progress in this most important field.

    So I don’t think anyone need feel guilty for hoping
    that this president does the wrong thing. It might
    hasten the demise of the radical right, and 99.9% of
    stem cell research will go on, because the rest of
    the world knows its the right thing to do, including
    our private sector and local governments.

    • Comments are closed.