Can one be a pro-choice social conservative?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I mean sure, but who cares?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

To be serious about this, obviously you can. Abortion's contemporary alignment on the liberal-conservative axis was by no means inevitable. Prescott Bush, who was attacked in his early 1950's campaigns as a supporter of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut, I doubt had many particularly liberal instincts, in keeping with his background. I'd even argue that there would be conservative--though somewhat "ugly"--reasons for backing abortion: maintenance of stable populations and stable nuclear households, a crime and poverty-reduction measure, ensuring that the "surplus population" doesn't get too out of hand, and so on. One need not even use the tired "limited government" pleas in order to make this case. How many times do you hear random white kids joke about African-American families' perceived overabundance of children and tie it to reliance on welfare? This type of conservatism could have been especially prevalent if the GOP stuck to a "managerial" path. Population politics, which played at least some part of each president's policy from Johnson to Carter, seem to have utterly disappeared after 1980. Conversely, Jill Stein's comments on abortion might seem more mainstream in this world.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nathan, interesting. I'd only heard about Dole's stance on abortion starting with his 1974 re-election--which seemed to hinge on his opponent being pro-choice, though I'd heard mention that TK evolved.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Yes if they personally abhor it and find it unacceptable but don't believe it's the government job to deal with this issue ( small government conservative)

These tropes are getting tired.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

[Self-congratulatory post about the 1990's drop in crime, marked by incredibly unawareness as to its implications, if true]

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

T o m i  L a h r e n

She's garbage, though.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

T o m i  L a h r e n

She's garbage, though.

Not any more then your average Conservative "news" personality.

Point being that one oughtn't build their ideological house on a foundation of garbage bricks.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nixon likewise allowed for expansion of those rights while president.

Wasn't Nixon the one who attacked his opponents for "amnesty, acid, and abortion"? Wasn't opposition to school busing part of Nixon's campaign?

Despite the significant effect that his campaign for re-election had on his policies, one should still consider that what Nixon allowed to occur while in office was different from both (a) how he campaigned, and (b) what he might have preferred happen. Now, the phrase "Amnesty, Acid, and Abortion" came from the primaries--reportedly actually coined by Senator Thomas Eagleton himself--and was regurgitated by certain members of the press. It was helpful for Nixon that certain audiences hear the attack, but not others. Given the President's margins nationwide, it's fair to say that a number of moderates and liberal also supported Nixon, albeit for perhaps different reasons than the "Democrats for Nixon" did. A man who, on the eve of his resignation, celebrated with his staff over their history of routing the liberals, nevertheless appointed Elliot Richardson among others to his administration.