Stem cell issue a problem for Republicans

From Yahoo News. From Yahoo.com Stem cell issue a problem for Republicans By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago Stem cell research packs the emotional punch of abortion and assisted suicide for people engaged on both sides but with this difference: So far, most people are on one side of the debate. That's a complication for Republicans, who like to say their "big tent" makes room for differing views. President Bush's veto of legislation Wednesday that sought to ease his restrictions on federal financing of stem cell research shakes that tent in ways other ethical issues have not. The issue splits the field of presidential prospects, divides even those Republicans who share anti-abortion views and comes on top of a roiling debate testing party unity over immigration. So why the veto, the first of his presidency, and in the middle of a tough GOP campaign to keep control of Congress? Personal conviction is part of it but nothing comes out of the White House without political calculation. "The salience of this issue to a small, intensely motivated portion of his base has something to do with his decision to veto the bill," said Bruce Buchanan, political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a longtime Bush watcher. Buchanan said Bush obviously sees the potential for motivating conservative voters crucial in a low-turnout midterm election and is willing to court them at the risk of driving other voters from his party in the fall. "I think it's a close call," he said of that gamble. Democrats have been quick to seize the power of the personal, bringing forward stories of suffering and casting the issue as one of compassion versus rigid ideology. In a competitive House race outside Philadelphia, Democrat Joe Sestak says his experience with his daughter, who has a malignant brain tumor now in remission, and the health care system led him to enter the race, and to promote steps opposed by Republican Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record) on stem cell research. "I believe that stem cells open the promise of life for so many people," Sestak said in an interview Wednesday. "I happened to have the opportunity to see people in a cancer ward, children, it breaks your heart. How can you not explore the possibility that they will be there to be an adult?" Those who believe destroying a human embryo is akin to murder cannot illustrate their case with the same visual impact. Still, when Bush announced his veto, he surrounded himself with "snowflake" families, those with children born through embryo donation. "They remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research," Bush said. "They remind us that we all begin our lives as a small collection of cells. And they remind us that in our zeal for new treatments and cures, America must never abandon our fundamental morals." As political fodder, stem cell research is as latent as the science. Just as potential treatments for spinal cord and other devastating disorders based on stem cell research are considered years from being tested in people, the issue has not matured for voters, polls suggest. Terrorism, the Iraq war and the economy routinely dominate voter concerns. The number of people who say defending the country and the economy are the priorities is very high — sometimes two-thirds or more. Yet public opinion sides strongly with giving scientists an opportunity to explore the possibilities. A recent Gallup poll found Americans considered stem cell research using human embryos to be morally acceptable by a 2-to-1 margin, and other measures have found majority support for putting federal dollars behind the effort. "The president is sticking to his principles and Americans do respect that," said David Rebovich, a political science professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., a state where the stem cell debate has surfaced in a close Senate campaign. "However, with President Bush's approval ratings so low and many incumbent Republicans nervous about re-election, the veto of the stem cell bill causes yet another problem for many of those Republicans who have to explain to constituents why it makes sense to support the party if the titular head is against such a popular initiative." In New Jersey, Republican Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr., is taking heat despite supporting the legislation struck down by Bush. Essentially, the knock against him from Democrats is that he hasn't supported it with sufficient enthusiasm — having voted in the past against paying for a state-financed stem cell research institute. Bush drew a line on federal financing in 2001 and hasn't budged since, even as the science has inched forward and prominent figures in his party have urged him to ease restrictions. Supporters of the research tap into the personal experiences and hopes of anyone who has a sick relative who may or may not be within reach of a cure from stem cell science someday. These figures have included Nancy Reagan, who spent years tending to her husband Ronald in an old age ravaged by Alzheimer's, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a surgeon. Frist and Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., both abortion opponents and potential presidential candidates, broke with Bush on the issue and crossed social conservatives in the process. Embryonic stem cell research is solidly supported in polls in ways other issues are not. With abortion and the right to die, support varies widely depending on the specific circumstances. Majorities oppose a return to the days before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, but substantial support exists for abortion limits. In the right to die debate, four in five Americans agree with laws that let terminally ill people decide if they want medical treatment, according to a Pew poll this year. But people are split on whether doctors should prescribe drugs to help a terminally ill patient commit suicide. And support for the right to die differs depending on how the question is framed. ___ Associated Press Writers Kimberly Hefling, Darlene Superville and Will Lester contributed to this report. The good thing about this whole mess the Republicans are boxed in nationally regarding Sterm cells and abortion a majority of Americans believe in Stem Cell research and majority of Americans believe we shouldn't go back on a woman right to chose but the Republicans have spent all their time pandering to the 28 days later crowd on the hard right on these issues and now the Republicans are trying to catch up with sane America.. But they're on the tight rope between sane Americans and those nuts they pander to.