A New Hope

And as the Republican Party dissipates, a golden opportunity presents itself.

With the defection of Arlen Spector, who was never really a Republican anyway, and the imminent departure of the George H. W. Bush appointed Justice David Souter from the Supreme Court bench (granted, a liberal by many counts), it would seem the right is running out of options and fast. In fact, the sheer amount of missed opportunities they had to make an impact in the last 100 days is staggering, considering the substantial amount of activity by the Obama administration and the issues raised. For a party coming off 3 years of mandate-like defeats, the prior 100 days should have been a dream come true, a chance to attack every issue, much like a basketball team on a losing streak looking for every opportunity to end it. Yet despite the failure of non-activity and unintentional comic relief (yes you, Mike Steel), with the need for a new Justice, a golden opportunity presents itself.

The mother of all issues for the Right.

Abortion.

The gay marriage issue, long a Republican stronghold, has essentially been bypassed, thanks to Meghan McCain (who would have thunk it?) and the lack of political legs the Miss America fiasco developed, the legalizations of gay marriage throughout the states seems to be a foregone conclusion, a fight no longer worth fighting.

The same holds true for the “smaller government” stand, as Obama’s approval numbers stay steady in the mid 60’s. At a time that has seen big business run roughshod over the American dream, most Americans are convinced of the need for greater regulation and assistance to the middle class. The “Tea Parties” were essentially an irrelevant joke, noticed only in passing (in some cases, quite literally) on the evening news, or by the bought and paid for viewers of Fox News.

The only one left standing remains abortion.

There are few issues that fuel the flames of the right as much as right-to life. When life begins, who is responsible, what does God want, and what should the penalties be are all aspects that will be delved into in the next few months, leading up to the start of the October Supreme Court session. Even though only 51 votes are needed to sign off on a nominee, giving the Republicans virtually no chance outside of a public relations nightmare to block anyone that Obama might nominate, the abortion debate will no doubt be pushed to the forefront of national consciousness once again.

Truth be told, there is no real answer to the abortion debate, unlike the gay marriage issue. All humans are equal, and therefore all have the right to do as they please with regards to marriage. Fairly simple. Not so with abortion. When does life really begin? At conception? At birth? Who decides? Who would pay for a potential abortion? Should insurance cover it? Should the government for the poor? What about rape cases? If it were determined to be a crime, what is the punishment?

No matter where you stand on this most divisive issue, there are valid ideologies on both sides. And much like the Alito nomination a few years ago, it will be front and center of the news cycle this summer. No matter who replaces Judge Souter, it will be an issue that will not disappear anytime soon. But should the Republicans handle this as they have gay marriage, and basically every issue since the election, the Party as now constructed may never be the same.