Indiana's Pro-Life Democrats Actually More Pro-Democrat than Pro-Life

The battle for Indiana's Democrat delegates has forced some of her "pro-life" democrats to show where their true loyalties lie.  Not surprisingly, they don't lie with protecting the lives of the unborn.

Growing up in Indiana teaches a young man not to pay much attention to presidential primaries. As a kid interested in ideas and the way they played out in culture and politics it was always a disappointment to me that primary races were usually settled long before our state's contest.

Not this year. As Clinton and Obama continue duking it out, they've both had to start campaigning in the Hoosier state.

I'm sure both would rather not. Indiana is a complex state politically, full of seeming contradictions. In national elections she almost always goes to the Republicans. On state and local levels, however, is hard to get elected if you aren't a Democrat.

A mostly rural state, her boundaries are populated by a mix of farmers, urban professionals and more than a few former manufacturing employees displaced by the ravages of globalism, all typically Democrat constituencies.

At the same time, religious sentiment permeates much of the state's culture. Even many non-religious people have little desire to see traditional morals overturned. So, the Democrats, the left-wing party of moral revolution, have to tread carefully.

Some have walked this tightrope as "pro-life" Democrats. Now one of those, former Congressman Tim Roemer, has decided that though he opposes abortion, he just loves Barack Obama the "most pro-abortion candidate ever." Roemer, whose 2005 bid to lead the Democrat National Committee was scuttled because of his pro-life views, has officially endorsed Obama.

It's easy to see why. Roemer simply isn't all that opposed to abortion. Only by deciding abortion isn't a significant enough issue to necessitate a break with his party could a man like Roemer give his moral imprimatur to a man like Obama who has made a career out of opposing even the flimsiest protections for the lives of the unborn.

No doubt, Roemer had hoped the usual pattern would prevail and the contest would have been settled by now. Still, when finally pushed to make a decision, Roemer, who could have easily refrained from endorsing either Democrat, or have endorsed McCain the ostensible pro-life candidate, chose instead to put party loyalty above the lives of children and in so doing betrayed all the pro-life voters who elected him and proved he is not worthy of the great state he once served.