Atwater Tells Republicans Don’t Skirt Abortion Issue

Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater advised GOP candidates today to face the abortion issue squarely, without “vacillation, waffling or double talk,” saying voters will accept differences but not ducking.

“In 1990, no candidate can run for office without squarely facing the abortion issue,” Atwater told the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee.

President Bush, the party platform and Atwater all are firm opponents of abortion, but the GOP chairman said that doesn’t mean all Republican candidates have to agree.

“There is no litmus test on any issue which would be grounds for repudiating a Republican who believes in our overall philosophy,” Atwater said.

The issue figured in Republican defeats for two governorships in 1989, and ever since, Atwater has been telling his party that its candidates must stake out their own positions clearly and early. Otherwise, he said, Democrats will define the issue in their terms.

“What no voter likes is vacillation, waffling or double talk,” Atwater said today. “And they don’t like the appearance of vacillation, waffling or double talk.”

He said the Republican Party “is big enough to accommodate different views,” saying that is one of the growing pains involved in becoming a majority.