Recently, in my capacity as the new acting chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Executive Committee, I was asking a young voter why he was supporting Bernie Sanders, as I had previously seen him wearing a Bernie Sanders T-shirt. His reply was insightful.
He said that Bernie offered hope and real change from the leadership styles of the past. He went on to say that Donald Trump scared him, acting like some foreign leaders of the past, such as Hitler, who used fear and hate as tools to get the desired results. Candidates who offered hope for the future would get his support. So, he would obviously vote for Hillary Clinton if the election were to be between her and Trump, although he preferred Sanders.
We then talked about state and local politics. I asked him what message he would like to hear shared to the public about the local Democratic positions on different issues. One, he wished people his age would quit calling he and his Democratic friends “baby killers,” referencing the United States Supreme Court’s rulings on abortion. Two, along those same lines, it was upsetting him that people questioned his Christian values simply because he believed in principles more closely aligned with the Democratic Party.
I suggested that with the current issues, especially at the state level with the governor’s alleged indiscretions and last week's conviction of the Speaker of the House on ethics charges, people needed to be concerned more with Christian values than the supposed “family values” so often promoted by leaders who seemed to be engaging in un-Christian moral behavior while professing to uphold family values.
The first topic needs some factual data for those choosing to hear the real facts. In 1973, when Roe v. Wade was rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court, the majority of the justices (actually six of the nine) were the appointees of Republican presidents, and the 7-2 decision was rendered by the majority of five Republicans and two Democrats with the two dissentions being one Democrat and one Republican. In 1992, in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the first case to provide the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a split decision with a plurality opinion letting Roe v. Wade remain in effect. That Supreme Court was composed of seven appointees made by Republican presidents and two appointees made by Democratic presidents.
In the 2007 case examining the constitutionality of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Gonzales v. Carhart, once again the Supreme Court was controlled by Republican appointees (seven made by Republican presidents and two by Democratic presidents). Yet the decision was still upheld by a vote of 5-4, with the swing vote being cast by chief justice John Roberts, a much celebrated conservative appointee of President George W. Bush. Republican presidents nominated all five justices voting with the majority, and of the four dissenting, two were Democrats and two were Republicans.
In 2015, in possibly the largest abortion case put before the court since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, a stay was given in the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt by a 5-4 ruling by a U.S. Supreme Court composed of six appointees made by Republican presidents and three appointees made by Democratic presidents. The current Supreme Court (presently consisting of eight members, with the death of Antonin Scalia-five Republican appointees and three Democratic appointees) heard arguments in this case on March 2, 2016 and appears to be split evenly on the issue; therefore, no significant change can be expected.
So, while some young folks are calling their peers ugly names (much the same as older folks do as well) and this type of rudeness should be abhorred by all, the facts support the premise that it was actually the Republican-appointed members of the U.S. Supreme Court that made the original decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973 and then upheld the same decision 19 years later, and again 34 years later, and again 42 years later. Give the opposing party credit; they have taken an issue where they controlled all of the decision-making process and somehow convinced people that it was the “liberal Democrats,” with no concern for “family values,” who brought this on America.
Maybe it is finally time for people to see what those who claim to support “family values” really stand for, and maybe the real focus should be on Christian values. And to my young, patriotic and Democratic partner, I say, “Yes, Southern Democrats are Christian and pro-life and believe in the 2nd Amendment.”
So what does the future hold for Alabama? Most everyone will concede that Donald Trump will carry Alabama in the fall and then Hillary Clinton will become the next President of the United States. But what about state and local races? At the state level, most of the Republican candidates are expected to win this year, because of a lack of Democratic opponents. However, with the mess the Republicans have made in Montgomery since they have been in control and the current leaders’ transgressions, that could easily change in two years.
With President Obama out of the picture, there will probably be less straight-party voting and more emphasis on voting for the individual at the local level. And if Secretary of State Clinton actually wins the presidency, then within the next four years you will see many from the Republican Party begin to move back to the Democratic Party, where their real allegiance at the local level lies. You will see the good possibility of a Democratic governor elected in two years for Alabama, as well as other state leaders, including a new state senator from this district. I predict that fewer candidates will run focusing on family values, and if they have indiscretions in their closets, they better just stay out of the picture.
Are Democrats perfect? Of course not. Are there good Republicans? Of course there are. But let’s at least be honest and look at the individuals for who they are personally and see if they know the difference in Christian values and the so-called “family values.” Do they live it or just talk the talk?
Know your candidate!
Eddie Britton serves as chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Executive Committee.
