Abortion rises to the surface in Carney race

Gas prices are dominating the news headlines for now, but the hot button issue of abortion could play a role in one Democratic-held socially conservative district this fall.

Both candidates in the 10th Congressional District in northeastern Pennsylvania, Republican businessman Chris Hackett and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Carney (D-Susquehanna), proclaim themselves to be solidly anti-abortion.

“I feel very confident in my stand on life, which is that life begins at conception,” Hackett said in a recent telephone interview.

Carney, for his part, has told voters, "I'm a Roman Catholic father of five, I do not favor abortion.”

But Republicans insist that in his first term in office Carney has been anything but against abortion rights. They point to his vote in favor of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, his support for allowing taxpayer funds to go to international groups that promote abortions and his 100 percent rating from the pro-choice organization NARAL.

“I think that my opponent has a split personality,” Hackett said, pointing to his opponent’s record on the abortion issue.

National Republicans, for their part, have echoed that message. “Chris Carney promised to defend the sanctity of human life when he ran for Congress in 2006, but since his arrival in Washington, he has become a reliable vote for liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and her pro-abortion agenda,” Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote in an email. “Those aren’t the Pennsylvania values he promised to uphold.”

Hackett, who was supported by the low-tax-promoting organization Club for Growth during his party’s primary this spring, has made spending issues the crux of his campaign. But, in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 48 percent to 40 percent margin and where President Bush won solid majorities in 2000 and 2004, analysts say the abortion issue provides a wedge for Hackett to peel votes away from Carney. It also provides an avenue for riling a Republican base that has been anything but high energy this cycle.

“Abortion is one of those important symbolic issues that’s always out there,” noted Jonathan Williamson, a political scientist at Lycoming College. “It’s about intensity. For those that find the issue important, it’s intensely important.”

Carney’s campaign insists its candidate is as pro-life as he claims to be.

“Carney does not favor abortion, he has been adamant about that since his first campaign,” said Rebecca Gale, a Carney campaign spokeswoman. Gale noted that Carney did favor access to education and family planning.

As he did in 2006, Carney, a member of the conservative Blue Dog Democratic coalition in the House, is aggressively reaching out to Republican voters. In June, he unveiled a list of “Republicans for Carney,” and last month Carney kicked off his television advertising campaign with a spot featuring Carney discussing his independence from his party.

His district’s coal country, which includes the Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Northumberland counties, is home to its fair share of conservative and values-minded Democratic voters. Carney’s campaign slogan plays to that constituency: “Experience. Honor. Integrity.”

“Chris is a conservative Democrat,” said Carney campaign manager Vince Rongione.

Democrats say that Hackett isn’t the best of advocates for the pro-life view. They note that in April, just days before Hackett’s hard-fought primary against businessman Dan Meuser came to an end, four GOP businessmen came forward to say that Hackett told a group of Republican businessmen and political leaders that he was pro-choice. Hackett’s side has said the story is untrue, and they point to Hackett’s victory over Meuser as evidence the claims don’t move voters.

But one Republican strategist said the story had complicated Hackett’s effort to make abortion an issue in the race.

“Northeast Pennsylvania voters are values voters. And abortion is a key issue among that electorate,” said the strategist. “Unfortunately the negative primary may have neutralized a key issue that Chris Hackett should have been able to dominate on.”

Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College said that, at a time when voters were concerned about gas prices and pocketbook issues, he wasn’t convinced that abortion would play a central role in the race.

“The economy and so many other issues matter far more in this election cycle, which is fairly typical. When the economy sours the cultural issues are not as important in vote choice,” Madonna said.

Democrats said Republicans were trying to distract voters with the abortion issue.

“Abortion is really not polling very well anywhere in Pennsylvania,” said state Democratic Party spokesman Abe Amoros, who said voters were more consumed with pain at the pump. “If Republicans want to use that issue it shows how bankrupt they are.”