Friday, January 26, 2007

Pro-Lifers Want Talent for Governor?

Members of the anti-abortion crowd in Springfield say they would be excited to see former Sen. Jim Talent run for Governor in 2008.

"I think a lot of pro-life voters feel the same way," said one Springfield "pro-life" activist.

Some conservatives now believe it will be very difficult for Gov. Matt Blunt to convince pro-life voters that he is truly "one of them" because of his position on embryonic stem cell research.

Insiders believe that Blunt will establish a "shadow" pro-life organization outside Missouri Right to Life and other groups, in order to gain credibility among socially conservative constituents.

"We have already seen some of this on smaller scales. The problem is he is now known as the Governor who is pro-embryonic destructive research," said the activist. "Anything the GOP can do to avoid accountability to the base on life issues will be seen as a viable path compared to ratings from pro-life groups," added the pro-lifer.

"Some don't like that we are pretty staunch in our insistence. Too bad, because we know what the courts are capable of when interpreting language," said the pro-lifer.

Another Republican source says if Blunt is challenged in a primary, that candidate would be "just dumb" not to capitalize on the discontent inside the hard right, especially on the stem cell issue.

"If someone does run against Blunt, they'll have to be anti-embryonic stem cell. That's the main criteria," says the source. "That's where you could gin up support. Half the state is against it."

No word on Sen. Jim Talent's political plans.

But we can't imagine him challenging Blunt in a primary. Can you?

2 comments:

Miss Money Girl said...

Hm. Talent running for Governor? Isn't that a step backward? I think it's highly unlikely that would happen although there are other strong, possible candidates. I personally hope that Blunt would make good on his prediction that, "I may choose not to run again" since he absolutely embarassed himself, science, His God and the Conservatives that helped elect him. If nothing else, repentance is required before he can ever seriously be considered a pro-life candidate/leader now or in the future. Too bad.

Lewis said...

As a pro-life person and a Talent and Blunt supporter, I have to say that the idea that Talent would challenge Gov. Blunt in a primary is ridiculous, and it's sad to see you create this ridiculous story based on what one 'pro-life activist' says. Well, I happen to fall in that same group of conservative pro-lifers and never once have I heard anyone suggest Talent challenge Blunt. We love and support Jim Talent, but we also know that Gov. Blunt is a strong pro-life voice and has done a lot to fight abortion and protect innocent life in MO.