Abortion Rights Group Targets TV Ads at Bush, Dole

In a testament to the rapidly accelerating pace of campaign 2000, a leading abortion rights group began broadcasting television ads in Iowa and New Hampshire on Monday, attacking the two front-runners for the GOP presidential nomination as “anti-choice.”

In separate 30-second ads--which soon may air in Los Angeles--the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League underscores the opposition to legal abortion by Texas Gov. George W. Bush and former American Red Cross President Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

With none of the announced Republican presidential contenders supporting legal abortion, the ads appear to be aimed less at influencing the GOP primary than at raising doubts about Bush and Dole among general election voters.

“They are equivocating on the issue of a woman’s right to choose . . . [and], if they travel down this road too long, people will begin to assume that they are not a threat,” league president Kate Michelman said at a news conference Monday.

A Vise of Attacks From Left, Right

Ironically, the ads come even as some conservatives--such as presidential hopeful Gary Bauer--have been questioning the commitment of Dole and Bush to the anti-abortion cause. The twin lines of attack set up a classic political vise for the two leaders in the polls.

With an eye on GOP primary voters, Bauer and other conservatives are signaling that they are prepared to pounce if Dole or Bush show any sign of diluting their opposition to abortion. And with an eye on swing voters in the general election, Michelman’s group is poised to attack them if they do not.

To some extent, the internal GOP argument is a debate over nuance because all of the 11 Republicans who have taken steps to run for president oppose legal abortion. (New York’s Republican Gov. George Pataki, who believes abortion should remain legal, has hinted that he might join the field but has yet to do so.)

Bush, who formed a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month, recently reaffirmed his support for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. In the past, Dole has taken the same position, although she has not directly addressed the issue since establishing her own presidential exploratory committee almost two weeks ago.

Dole has come under fire from some conservatives for hiring advisors, such as pollster Linda DiVall, who are considered cool to the anti-abortion cause. And Bush angered some on the right when he recently argued that it made no sense to push for such a constitutional amendment now because “America is not ready to ban abortions.” Instead, he maintained, conservatives should focus on steps to “reduce abortions,” such as a ban on late-term abortions.

Bush Following ‘Quarantine Strategy’

Bush’s call for a step-by-step approach against abortion--a view often described as the “quarantine strategy”--echoes the position that Steve Forbes took in his 1996 bid for the nomination. Though Forbes drew intense fire from the right for that stance, this time several prominent conservatives--including televangelist Pat Robertson--have defended Bush’s formulation as a realistic way to proceed.

Still, other leading conservatives, such as Focus on the Family president James Dobson, have criticized Bush’s position. And it has become clear that the most conservative candidates in the GOP field intend to appeal to ardent abortion opponents by establishing new tests on the issue that they hope Bush, Dole and other centrist candidates will fail.

On Sunday, for instance, Patrick J. Buchanan said on the ABC program “This Week” that he would rule out appointing Supreme Court justices--or a vice presidential running mate--who supports legal abortion. Bauer already has made the same commitments. What’s even more striking, Forbes--who announced his second bid for the nomination last week--took the same position Sunday in an interview on “Meet the Press.”

Neither Bush nor Dole has yet to say whether they will establish anti-abortion litmus tests for judicial appointments or their potential running mate.

The abortion rights group’s ads target the two from the other side of the debate. Although both Dole and Bush are trying to portray themselves as “moderates,” Michelman charged, “both would be a threat to women’s fundamental liberties.”

League officials said that the ads will run for two weeks in Iowa and New Hampshire--the site of the crucial first contests next year--and then likely will be broadcast in Los Angeles and New York, with other states to follow.

Bush aides shrugged off the ads.

But Dole aides reacted more sharply. “It’s unfortunate that special interest groups have already teed up their attack ads,” said Ari Fleischer, the communications director for Dole’s exploratory committee.