GOP Presidential Hopefuls Make Moves To The Right
Among the field of Republican primary candidates, anti-abortion positions are getting a lot of play -- even though they appear to run contrary to public opinion. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush continues to get attention regarding his involvement with a charity that supported Planned Parenthood and comments he made about funding for women's health.
The Washington Post:
As Campaign Heats Up, Republican Candidates Are Rushing To The Right
But it could also cause the eventual nominee problems in a general election with a more moderate electorate. On social issues ranging from abortion to same-sex marriage, much of the Republican field has now taken positions that are at odds with mainstream American opinion. For example, 3 out of 4 Americans say a woman should be able to obtain a legal abortion if she becomes pregnant as a result of rape. (Sullivan, 8/7)
Politico:
Jeb Bush Role In Michael Bloomberg Charity Gets Attention
Jeb Bush’s involvement with a philanthropy headed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, which partnered with Planned Parenthood on a $50 million global reproductive health initiative, is coming under scrutiny just as abortion is re-emerging as a top campaign issue. The former Florida governor served as a Bloomberg Family Foundation director from March 2010 until he stepped down in late 2014, earning roughly $37,000. During those years, the foundation worked with Planned Parenthood to expand women’s health programs in Africa and Central America. The association with the women’s health provider is politically fraught at a time when the group has been accused of selling the tissue of aborted fetuses — a charge it denies. (Pradhan, 8/10)
CNN:
Bush Parries Fiorina Over Women's Health Spending Remark
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is again defending his slip about cutting funding for women's health organizations this week, but not from Hillary Clinton, but instead against former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's assertions at Thursday night's Republican debate. (LoBianco, Killough and Wallace, 8/7)
On the Democratic side, The New York Times examines Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail -
The New York Times:
Similarities Aside, Bernie Sanders Isn’t Rerunning Howard Dean’s 2004 Race
Both men are New York natives who live in Burlington, Vt.; they avoid talk of themselves or their biographies, and display irritation with many of the conventions of the way campaigns are conducted and covered. Both call for universal health care, though the appeal has less resonance now than it did before the Affordable Care Act was passed. Both have seemed to strike a chord that suggests impatience with the more establishment Democrats in the contest, whether Hillary Rodham Clinton today or John Kerry and John Edwards, senators from Massachusetts and North Carolina, in 2004. And both have drawn fervent crowds who embrace their philosophy and celebrate their candidate-as-fighter styles. ... Still, what may prove more significant, as Democrats begin to focus on the choice ahead of them and attention shifts from the Republican contest after last week’s debate, are the ways in which the two liberals from Vermont are different. (Nagourney, 10/9)