If opposing abortion makes you a "social conservative," what does supporting abortion make you? Why, nothing at all, or certainly nothing worth mentioning in NBC's eyes.
NBC's Kelly O'Donnell narrated a segment on this morning's "Today" about the three candidates who threw their hats into the presidential ring over the weekend: Hillary, Bill Richardson and Sam Brownback.
O'Donnell described Hillary simply as "Senator Hillary Clinton." Nothing about her views on abortion.
O'Donnell identified Bill Richardson as the first potential Hispanic president, "adding to the Democratic field of potential firsts if elected: Clinton, the first woman and Barack Obama, the first African-American." How nice.
Nothing about Richardson's views on abortion either.
But when it came to the Republican newly in the race, virtually the first words out of O'Donnell's mouth were: "Two-term Kansas senator Sam Brownback is a social conservative who opposes legalized abortion."
View video here.
Could you ever imagine O'Donnell, or any MSMer, opening a description of a Dem candidate by calling him "a social liberal who supports abortion"?
Neither can I. For the MSM, pro-choice is the normal position. After all, virtually everyone in the news room is. Being pro-life is seen as a extreme position that makes a candidate subject to pigeon-holing as a "social conservative."
PS: Note that O'Donnell described Brownback as being opposed to "legalized" abortion. Wait a second: surely he opposes illegal abortion, too. Am I reading too much into this, or was O'Donnell's insertion of "legalized" some subliminal editorializing, her way of saying "if abortion is prohibited it won't end the practice, it will just drive women into the back alleys"?
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net