Federal Judge strikes down Arkansas 12 week abortion ban

[Adam Griffin]

A major hold of serve for Democrats and Women's groups for the most part as District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that only a doctor could determine viability and not the state.

Are you insane? How is this a win for the Arkansas State Democratic Party, or Mark Pryor? Half of House Democrats originally voted for this when it came up so I'm pretty sure this ruling neither represents a win for them, nor their constituents.

You have to stop posting threads.

It represents a win for working women who compose the backbone of the Democratic coalition in Arkansas.

Seriously? Come off it.

Do you ever post anything that goes beyond advocacy for obnoxious social paternalism? This routine is getting old. There is nothing substantive behind your claims, you've consistently demonstrated that you understand nothing about American politics etc.

I'm the one who doesn't understand American politics?!? The social views you are promoting help explain why one party wins virtually all Statewide elections in the South and the other party loses virtually all Statewide elections in the South.
Where is the substance behind your claim that "working women" in Arkansas (what does this even mean anyway?) are militantly pro-choice?
Also, how in God's name would promoting pro-choice policies help Democrats win Statewide and local elections in Arkansas?

The reason Arkansans still vote Democratic is because they trust Democrats with their tax dollars - period. The reason most of the rest of the South doesn't is because they don't. I can assure you that there were plenty of rubes and hicks clinging on for dear life in other states, spewing the same dogma, only to be thrown from the halls of power all the same. It has nothing to do with social issues.

[Adam Griffin]

That's absolute nonsense. If it had nothing to do with social issues then Republicans wouldn't be so successful at using social issues to convince Southerners to vote GOP.
And Arkansas is now quickly completing the transition to becoming a GOP state at a state level.

We're talking about Arkansas here, not the bloc at-large. A state that opposes abortion (55-45) and gay marriage (72-25) by large margins has continued to elect the party of such decades after civil rights, Roe v. Wade, forced busing, affirmative action and all of the other nonsense that the GOP has tried to use to destroy the Democratic Party's power and associate the national brand with the state party.

It worked almost everywhere else: why didn't it work in Arkansas? Because Arkansans still trust Democrats with their tax dollars - period. It isn't an accomplishment to wear down a party after 40 years of hammering them on social issues: that's just the New Deal coalition dying. Arguably the most socially conservative Southern state will be the last one to go, but please, continue to tell me how it all relates to social issues.

[Adam Griffin]

That's absolute nonsense. If it had nothing to do with social issues then Republicans wouldn't be so successful at using social issues to convince Southerners to vote GOP.
And Arkansas is now quickly completing the transition to becoming a GOP state at a state level.

We're talking about Arkansas here, not the bloc at-large. A state that opposes abortion (55-45) and gay marriage (72-25) by large margins has continued to elect the party of such decades after civil rights, Roe v. Wade, forced busing, affirmative action and all of the other nonsense that the GOP has tried to use to destroy the Democratic Party's power and associate the national brand with the state party.

It worked almost everywhere else: why didn't it work in Arkansas? Because Arkansans still trust Democrats with their tax dollars - period. It isn't an accomplishment to wear down a party after 40 years of hammering them on social issues: that's just the New Deal coalition dying. Arguably the most socially conservative Southern state will be the last one to go, but please, continue to tell me how it all relates to social issues.

Notice that Democrats were still successfully dominating many Southern states long after the social cleavages engendered by 60s social movements became salient.

You're completely forgetting that in Arkansas, the GOP never even bothered to contest enough winnable state legislature seats until 2012, which meant that it was actually impossible for them to gain the legislature.

And? That's like saying Hawaii or Rhode Island would be Republican-controlled right now if they had just ran enough candidates.

Surely the GOP could relate to the people of Arkansas! After all, your interpretation of Southern culture suggests that we would only care about how many gay marriages we could stop and how many babies we could save. Pray tell: why couldn't the GOP tap into that deep vein of social conservatism in Arkansas and overtake the legislature? Ain't no gerrymander strong enough to overcome that variable, yet the GOP never bothered running enough candidates because they knew it was pointless.

The people of Arkansas didn't care as much about their social wedge issues as they did about their own pocketbooks, and frankly, still don't when it comes down to it. Do you think Blanche Lincoln lost in 2010 because of gay marriage? The people of Arkansas vote Democratic because they trust Democrats with their tax dollars - period.