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[Carpe Libertatem]

It's dangerous to have a single issue litmus test like this. I don't see why Democrats are enraged about the Mayor of Omaha.

Last I checked the Mayor of Omaha isn't going to be able to change thinga, even if he were to want to.

Mayors of cities can have considerable say in abortion policy for the city. Arguably more than the federal government. Omaha is likely one of the only places in Nebraska where a woman could go to get an abortion. Having someone like Heath Mello as mayor makes that harder to do.

Granted, his opponent is likely just as bad as he is on this subject. So women just have no good options!

Yep. I'm all for criticism of Mello, but when was the last time Planned Parenthood Action or NARAL vocally condemned the DNC for backing an anti-choice candidate?

Last week.

 

[SamVimes]

"Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said it’s fine if an elected Democratic official personally opposes abortion, but from a policy standpoint, he or she must support a woman’s right to choose.

“When it comes to the policy position, I think we need to be clear and unequivocal,” Durbin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “As long as they are prepared to back the law, Roe vs. Wade, prepared to back women’s rights as we have defined them under the law, then I think they can be part of the party.”

So what's the problem with this? I already know people that are personally against abortion but still say it should be legal.

 

[daman824]

We probably shouldn't be calling anti-choice candidates progressive, while simultaneously implying a candidate with center-left economic views (but solidly on the left socially) is not progressive.

The problem is not Heath Mello. It's fine if you want to support him against a Republican (though supporting him in the primary is suspect). But don't call him progressive.

1. Heath mello is pro choice and has fought back against defunding planned parenthood
2. Who would you have supported in the primary?

 

[KSweeley]

The problem is Mello is anti-abortion from a policy standpoint as well:

To say that Mello has a less-than-supportive record on reproductive rights would be an understatement. In 2009, as a member of the Nebraska legislature, Mello sponsored a bill that would require women seeking abortions to be told they could see an ultrasound before the procedure. He also sponsored the state’s 20-week abortion ban, voted in favor of having a doctor present during abortions (limiting options around telemedicine care), and voted to ban insurance plans in Nebraska from covering abortion.

 

[shnurgleton]

Makes sense. Democratic party members in traditionally more Republican states will probably have to compromise a bit to get elected. And abortion is so divisive it's probably one of the first views to soften. As long as the federal Democrats remain more vigilant about this, I don't really mind.

Abortion may be divisive, but there's very little chance it'll be outlawed. It has primarily been a campaign slogan that GOP uses to grab those single-issue voters and nothing else. So it makes sense for dems to soften a bit so that they can actually reach voters who would be dems if it weren't for the strong pro-choice stance.

 

[Father_Brain]

He wants to be a kingmaker, but only from the outside. It's weird as fuck to entertaining it.

He's more popular within the party than any other Democrat currently in office, and by a wide margin, but sure, it's weird as fuck that the DNC wants to work with him.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

What a non progressive thing to do... I guess gun control will be next on the chopping block since we're appeasing the south for the sake of bernie support.

It's dead, Jim. America is fucked in the head. 50-state strategy means selling your soul a little at a time. (and it's a viable strategy)

 

[Averon]

I mean, if you truly think the 50-state strategy is the way to go, then you're going to have to accept that you have to compromise on certain issues if you want to be competitive in many areas of the country. Abortion is one of those issues where it is very easy for people to take a hardline stance on.

 

[daman824]

The problem is Mello is anti-abortion from a policy standpoint as well:

He has since changed his policy stances.

 

[rokkerkory]

You mean dems can disagree policies? Awesome.

Thats ok by me as long as dems win.

 

[Slayven]

He's more popular within the party than any other Democrat currently in office, and by a wide margin, but sure, it's weird as fuck that the DNC wants to work with him.

Working with him and him co opting the party he won't join is two different things.

 

[KSweeley]

He has since changed his policy stances.

Are there news articles that shows Mello changed in terms of abortion?

 

[CrunchyFrog]

I'm staunchly anti-abortion, but I've come to an increasing realization that reducing its apparent necessity and occurrence is less served by direct litigation and court battles and more by addressing a lot of the reasons it happens in the first place, namely having better child support programs, improving education from the ground up, revamping our foster care system, reducing the medical and opportunity costs of pregnancy itself (especially the former in regards to ensuring as safe a pregnancy as possible), and generally addressing poverty. From a policy standpoint, make abortion as unnecessary as possible, but I'll continue to argue against it in the court of public opinion til such time as we can eliminate it through obsolescence and real democratic consensus.

 

[Carpe Libertatem]

1. Heath mello is pro choice and has fought back against defunding planned parenthood
2. Who would you have supported in the primary?

Heath Mello is not pro-choice. He has a public record as an elected official in Nebraska and that record most certainly shows he is in favor of restricting women's rights to get an abortion.

It's fine if you want to support him! He's definitely better than the Republican. But he's not pro-choice, he's not a progressive.

 

[BrutishMrFish]

What happened to all your talk about how terrible you thought purity tests are for the party? This sounds very purity testy of you.

It's almost like the point of "purity tests" as an attack is to suppress criticism of the Democrats on certain issues.

You're ignoring the fact that women's rights are a cornerstone of the Democratic party. The things Bernie likes to push usually aren't. It's a pretty big difference.

What a non progressive thing to do... I guess gun control will be next on the chopping block since we're appeasing the south for the sake of bernie support.

That should have been what they chose in the first place, at least then they wouldn't have been inching towards throwing a big chunk of their constituency under the bus.

 

[Pizoxuat]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

In his fight to define what it means to be progressive and to “radically transform the Democratic Party,” Sanders has drawn an unspoken but clear distinction between the economic issues that animate him (on which he says we must not compromise) and reproductive freedom (on which, he says, we should). It’s a vision in which single-payer and free college are essential parts of the progressive, economic justice agenda, while a woman’s right to choose is not.

But here’s the thing: reproductive freedom is fundamentally an economic justice issue.

Access to abortion — the ability to decide when, and whether, to become a parent — is fundamental to the economic security of women (and other people who can become pregnant). If I found out I were pregnant tomorrow, and I didn’t have the right to choose, unplanned parenthood would derail my career, my educational plans, my entire economic future.

And I’d still be better off than most. Nearly 70 percent of women who obtain abortions live below 200% of the federal poverty line, often because they cannot afford to care for a (or another) child. As Michelle Kinsey Bruns points out, abortion has empowered her to escape “a life of hereditary poverty.” She’s not alone. The landmark “Turnaway Study” tracked women across 21 states who sought but were denied abortion care; researchers found that “women who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term are three times more likely than women who receive an abortion to be below the poverty level two years later.”

Without the ability to control when they become parents, women can’t control their economic futures. There’s no economic justice without abortion access — unless you only care about people who can’t become pregnant.

 

[wildfire]

Fundamentally it's a problem but are we talking about a "single"* issue where they aren't in lockstep with the majority?


If so, are Democrats going to start defending "The Blaze" employee, Tomi Lauren because she called out conservatives as hypocrits on the abortion issue and she was suspended from her job for it and eventually sued?


*single is too limiting. I don't see a point about complaining when someone deviates as much as 3% with the majority way of thinking.

 

[guek]

I've got a question about LB 675 though. The bill synopsis reads

Requires physicians, in cases where an ultrasound is used, to perform the ultrasound no less than 1 hour prior to the abortion (Sec. 2).

Requires physicians to display the ultrasound images simultaneously, direct the screen such that the patient may view them if she chooses, and provide detailed medical descriptions of the images if requested by the patient (Sec. 2).

Specifies that, in the event that an ultrasound is performed, the patient must certify, in writing and prior to the abortion, that the above procedures were followed (Sec. 2).

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish a comprehensive list of healthcare providers that offer ultrasounds, including a specification of those which offer the service free of charge, arranged geographically and including contact information (Sec. 3).

None of that is an issue whatsoever if the ultrasound is offered rather than mandated. AFAIK, you can't force patients to have a procedure against their will so I really don't see the issue. I'd love for someone to clarify though if I'm missing something.

 

[RDreamer]

I get that we need a larger strategy and I get that some policies should be a bit more flexible, but in my opinion, women's right to choose what happens to their own body should be a fucking pillar of the democratic party. The lower level elected can be like Tim Kaine or something and not believe in it for themselves but not want to change the law.

It's just really bad optics to the base of the party to be supporting people that want to take away their rights. We live in an age of the internet and it's pretty hard to hide that support.

Feministing speaks for me on this.

This is also fucking spot-on.

 

[Jenov]

It's one thing to agree on a Democrat like this, which is fine:

“As long as they are prepared to back the law, Roe vs. Wade, prepared to back women’s rights as we have defined them under the law, then I think they can be part of the party.”

But the guy Bernie is backing is NOT prepared to back women's rights and has already voted policy-wise many times to undo them. That's the problem here. At this point you really are throwing women under the bus for political gain.

Examples already posted by Ksweeley:

Mello, the Omaha, Nebraska Democratic Mayoral candidate has a clear anti-abortion record.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/23/politics/bernie-sanders-heath-mello/

Mello developed an anti-abortion image and record during his time in Nebraska's state legislature, where he has served since 2009. For example, in his first year there, he signed onto a bill mandating a doctor performing an abortion offer the woman an ultrasound. He told the Associated Press at the time it was a "positive first step to reducing the number of abortions in Nebraska."


Link: http://www.glamour.com/story/bernie-sanders-heath-mello-anti-abortion

To say that Mello has a less-than-supportive record on reproductive rights would be an understatement. In 2009, as a member of the Nebraska legislature, Mello sponsored a bill that would require women seeking abortions to be told they could see an ultrasound before the procedure. He also sponsored the state’s 20-week abortion ban, voted in favor of having a doctor present during abortions (limiting options around telemedicine care), and voted to ban insurance plans in Nebraska from covering abortion.

Now he has a major political backer in Sanders, a self-described progressive who has a 100 percent approval rating from pro-choice group NARAL. Political activists and reproductive rights supporters rightly questioned why Sanders would back a candidate who has a record of being antiabortion, especially in a relatively progressive city like Omaha (Douglas County, where the city’s located, was one of the two counties Hillary Clinton won in the state). “The truth is that in some conservative states there will be candidates that are popular candidates who may not agree with me on every issue,” he told NPR. “I understand it. That's what politics is about.”

According to Sanders, a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body will only be safe if more Democrats than Republicans win elections. “We have got to appreciate where people come from, and do our best to fight for the pro-choice agenda,” he said. “But I think you just can't exclude people who disagree with us on one issue.”

Sanders also said that Democrats need “a progressive agenda, to bring people into this party, to mobilize people,” but it’s not clear how he sees an antiabortion candidate connecting with the Democratic party’s platform of promoting women’s reproductive rights. Diminished access to reproductive health care overwhelmingly hurts the poorest women in America—reproductive rights and economic equality are linked.

Shortly after Sanders’ comments, Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez made a statement on the matter (though he didn’t mention Sanders or the party’s official stance on Mello). "The Democratic Party's platform states clearly our support for every woman's right to make their own choices about their reproductive health and to have access to safe abortion services," Perez told NPR. "As DNC chair, I stand by that position unequivocally, as I have my entire life."

 

[cDNA]

“But if we are going to become a 50-state party, if you’re going to go to Omaha, Nebraska, which has a Republican governor, two Republican senators, all Republican Congress people, Republican legislature, you know what?” he continued. “If you have a rally in which you have the labor movement, and the environmentalists, and Native Americans, and the African American community, and the Latino community coming together, saying, ‘We want this guy to become our next mayor,’ should I reject going there to Omaha? I don’t think so.”

These are the sort of things that annoys me of Sanders,he knows that in political reality some compromises are needed. But, when talking of his preferred issues he requires purity test and ignores the political situation. Sometimes he preach for others what he is not able to do for himself

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Oh, and by the way, Health Mello fucking sucks.

 

[Slayven]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

Straight fire. First women, then other minorities will probably have to make "compromises". DNC might as well end their tour with closing shop. Cause without their base they are done

 

[freeofgreed]

Ironic how the purity gets a pass when it's the other way around

Yeah no kidding. Funny how some people in this thread who always bitch about purity tests, and want a 50 state strategy. Suddenly don't want any of that because Bernie is proposing it. Some people really can't let that fucking primary go.

 

[The Technomancer]

What happened to all your talk about how terrible you thought purity tests are for the party? This sounds very purity testy of you.

I think Sanders is right but that its then rich that he's still trying to play arbiter of who is and isn't progressive based on how they hew to his economic concerns

I think Perez just botched the messaging on this bad

Also Mello sucks and the choice to wade into that race was just suspect overall. He's...tolerable, I don't know if any sort of national leadership should be championing him

 

[daman824]

Are there news articles that shows Mello changed in terms of abortion?

It's in the article
“While my faith guides my personal views, as mayor I would never do anything to restrict access to reproductive health care."

Edit: different huffington post article.

Here's where the quote came from:https://www.google.com/amp/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58f8e868e4b018a9ce590a84/amp

Heath Mello is not pro-choice. He has a public record as an elected official in Nebraska and that record most certainly shows he is in favor of restricting women's rights to get an abortion.

It's fine if you want to support him! He's definitely better than the Republican. But he's not pro-choice, he's not a progressive.

politicians can change their stances on controversial issues. After hearing Mello speak multiple times, I strongly believe he would protect the reproductive rights of women

 

[KSweeley]

It's one thing to agree on a Democrat like this, which is fine:

“As long as they are prepared to back the law, Roe vs. Wade, prepared to back women’s rights as we have defined them under the law, then I think they can be part of the party.”

But the guy Bernie is backing is NOT prepared to back women's rights and has already voted policy-wise many times to undo them. That's the problem here. At this point you really are throwing women under the bus for political gain.

Top Democrats and the DNC is also supporting Mello:

The issue is in the forefront because of recent drama over the Democratic National Committee last week endorsing a Democratic candidate for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, who has a record of voting against abortion rights. Among other progressives, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue torched the DNC for making a “politically stupid” move.

 

[gutter_trash]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

Pretty much this.

The irony of purity doesn't follow when it is Bernie who strays from Liberal orthodoxy

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Democrats always the party of compromising.

No wonder people think they are out of touch

 

[kirblar]

Yeah no kidding. Funny how some people in this thread who always bitch about purity tests, and want a 50 state strategy. Suddenly don't want any of that because Bernie is proposing it. Some people really can't let that fucking primary go.

The issue is that Bernie only wants to compromise on one set of issues.

The campaigning for anti-abortion candidates coincided with him telling people he "didn't know" if Ossoff was a progressive.

 

[Father_Brain]

You're ignoring the fact that women's rights are a cornerstone of the Democratic party. The things Bernie likes to push usually aren't. It's a pretty big difference.

The "cornerstones of the Democratic Party" are not set in stone. LGBT rights certainly weren't one of them, say, 25 years ago.

You're just proving my point: certain issues are legitimate areas to push Dems left on, others aren't. The point of "purity tests" as an attack is to police those boundaries and delegitimize criticism of Dems on economic issues (and to a lesser extent, foreign policy), nothing more.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

She's right you know.

 

[Xe4]

Democrats always the party of compromising.

No wonder people think they are out of touch

Being reasonable and willing to work with different people's stances on different issues is out of touch, I guess.

We live in a very sad time.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Because half the country will not vote Democrat based solely on this issue.

fuck half of the US

 

[smokeandmirrors]

Being reasonable and willing to work with different people's stances on different issues is out of touch, I guess.

We live in a very sad time.

It's just another move to the right for the party.

Nothing about restricting a woman's right to body autonomy is reasonable. Period.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Mello sucks and we should expect better if we can run a guy in rural Kansas who prosecutes cops for free and get 46% of the vote, so I'm not a huge fan of the pragmatic argument for him. I think it makes sense to send Bernie there because Omaha is the kind of place Bernie will play really well in if you want to get Mello elected (because he probably is better than the Republican) but it is kind of shitty. The Ossoff comment I think is blown out of proportion but also was kind of shitty. Bernie fucked up a bit this past week!

I think the "not a Democrat" comments are silly though. He said he was elected as an independent so he'd run the rest of his term as an independent and then run for reelection as a Democrat. He's really popular with the party base so I don't see why it's so horrid that they're going around the country with him.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I understand where Bernie's coming from, but I understand more the people pointing out how easy it is for people like him to make this decision to disregard women for his own goals.

 

[Blader]

The "cornerstones of the Democratic Party" are not set in stone. LGBT rights certainly weren't one of them, say, 25 years ago.

You're just proving my point: certain issues are legitimate areas to push Dems left on, others aren't. The point of "purity tests" as an attack is to police those boundaries and delegitimize criticism of Dems on economic issues (and to a lesser extent, foreign policy), nothing more.

Reproductive rights seems like a legitimate area to push Dems left on, to me. At least on a national level.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Being reasonable and willing to work with different people's stances on different issues is out of touch, I guess.

We live in a very sad time.

You don't understand why some people would be upset at throwing a ton of support behind someone who's voted to throw women under a bus?

That's sad to you?

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

This is really good, and underscores why we shouldn't undercut abortion on a federal level as well as calls out Bernie for playing the purity test card unevenly. But at the same time if we're given the choice between losing a district and giving a small-time legislature the ability to be more flexible about their views (albeit for all issues and not just throwing social issues under the bus), I think I'd still pick the latter option.

 

[Azuran]

When is America going to get a true left-wing party?

It's hilarious that Democrats represent liberalism in America. This party is centre left at most.

 

[kirblar]

The "cornerstones of the Democratic Party" are not set in stone. LGBT rights certainly weren't one of them, say, 25 years ago.

You're just proving my point: certain issues are legitimate areas to push Dems left on, others aren't. The point of "purity tests" as an attack is to police those boundaries and delegitimize criticism of Dems on economic issues (and to a lesser extent, foreign policy), nothing more.

The point of attacking "purity tests" is to make sure we don't become UK Labour.

 

[freeofgreed]

The issue is that Bernie only wants to compromise on one set of issues.

The campaigning for anti-abortion candidates coincided with him telling people he "didn't know" if Ossoff was a progressive.

What relevance does this have? You are one of the main people I was referencing. You consistently talk about how bad purity tests are, and how the left should be more willing to compromise with the center. and Here he is doing exactly that, then suddenly you do a 360 just because of some dumb comment he made a week ago. Comparing him to LE Pen? Really? I think you're a good poster generally but stuff like this really hurts your credibility.

 

[Hindl]

If people want to know why this blew up, it's because Sanders was willing to give Mello a pass on abortion because he otherwise mostly aligned with Sanders' views. Which is fine! That's the point of the 50 state strategy. But this happened in the same week that he said he wasn't sure that Ossoff wasn't a progressive because he didn't share Sanders' views on the economy and a few other issues. It wasn't a big deal, and he later clarified his comments about Ossoff and supported him, but he didn't have to say anything at all or at least give token support. Yet when there was an anti-abortion candidate, Sanders didn't make a comment saying he wasn't sure if Mello was progressive, he gave Mello his full support with this reasoning. Why couldn't he do that with Ossoff from the beginning too? The dude just isn't careful in the way he chooses his words, and that's why this blew up

 

[Father_Brain]

Mello sucks and we should expect better if we can run a guy in rural Kansas who prosecutes cops for free and get 46% of the vote, so I'm not a huge fan of the pragmatic argument for him. I think it makes sense to send Bernie there because Omaha is the kind of place Bernie will play really well in if you want to get Mello elected (because he probably is better than the Republican) but it is kind of shitty. The Ossoff comment I think is blown out of proportion but also was kind of shitty. Bernie fucked up a bit this past week!

I think the "not a Democrat" comments are silly though. He said he was elected as an independent so he'd run the rest of his term as an independent and then run for reelection as a Democrat. He's really popular with the party base so I don't see why it's so horrid that they're going around the country with him.

Agreed with all of this.

That anyone still thinks "not a Democrat" is an effective or relevant attack on Sanders is hilarious. Absolutely no one cares except the 8-13% of the party that already hates him, I can guarantee you.

 

[John Kowalski]

Feministing speaks for me on this.

You know this is what the OP should actually be.

 

[dave is ok]

Thread title is misleading.

Here is Sanders quote:

"I have a 100 percent lifetime pro-choice voting record, but if we are going to become a 50-state party, if you're going to go to Omaha, Nebraska, which has a Republican governor, two Republican senators, all Republican Congress people, Republican legislature, you know what?" he continued. ”If you have a rally in which you have the labor movement, and the environmentalists, and Native Americans, and the African American community, and the Latino community coming together, saying, ‘We want this guy to become our next mayor,' should I reject going there to Omaha? I don't think so."

Seems like the article is actually about something Dick Durbin said but Sanders gets more clicks so they threw him in there.

 

[legacyzero]

Ironic how the purity gets a pass when it's the other way around

BOOM. I literally yelled out loud at my office. And it's not like Sanders and co are anti abortion by supporting SOME kind of Democrat, even if it's the lesser of two evils (heh sound familiar?) even if that dem is more of a moderate.

These SAME people were attacking Bernie for HIS "purity tests" and demanded he support all the Down tickets. But when he does, suddenly he's evil. I really wonder how many actually read the whole OP.

It's like the Purity tests aren't acceptable until it's convenient. It's LOL-worthy.

If people want to know why this blew up, it's because Sanders was willing to give Mello a pass on abortion because he otherwise mostly aligned with Sanders' views. Which is fine! That's the point of the 50 state strategy. But this happened in the same week that he said he wasn't sure that Ossoff wasn't a progressive because he didn't share Sanders' views on the economy and a few other issues. It wasn't a big deal, and he later clarified his comments about Ossoff and supported him, but he didn't have to say anything at all or at least give token support. Yet when there was an anti-abortion candidate, Sanders didn't make a comment saying he wasn't sure if Mello was progressive, he gave Mello his full support with this reasoning. Why couldn't he do that with Ossoff from the beginning too? The dude just isn't careful in the way he chooses his words, and that's why this blew up

That's my point. He's fighting for Democrats. And he's STILL a demon to Hillary-crats. The guy just can't win. And HILLARY is widely considered a Moderate. But they'll deny that.

 

[KSweeley]

Thread title is misleading.

Here is Sanders full quote

"I have a 100 percent lifetime pro-choice voting record, but if we are going to become a 50-state party, if you’re going to go to Omaha, Nebraska, which has a Republican governor, two Republican senators, all Republican Congress people, Republican legislature, you know what?” he continued. “If you have a rally in which you have the labor movement, and the environmentalists, and Native Americans, and the African American community, and the Latino community coming together, saying, ‘We want this guy to become our next mayor,’ should I reject going there to Omaha? I don’t think so.”

Blame the article title then, that's a direct copy and paste of the article title.

 

[Joni]

It is simple to me. You can be pro life all you want as long as you are smart enough to vote pro choice. A good enough politician would be able to distinguish between personal beliefs and what is best for country.

When is America going to get a true left-wing party?

It's hilarious that Democrats represent liberalism in America. This party is centre left at most.

Liberalism in Europe is a right policy so I'm not that surprised that it is the same for the US.