Riordan Ducks Davis’ Left Jab

Gray Davis opposes abortion. So does Richard Riordan. So do most Californians.

Davis supports abortion rights. So does Riordan. So do most Californians.

So why did Davis choose abortion as the weapon with which to lambaste GOP challenger Riordan?

And why would Davis pick abortion as the first topic of his campaign when Californians are telling pollsters that their most pressing concerns are education, energy and the economy?

If Social Security has been viewed historically as the third rail of American politics, then the abortion debate is a minefield with machine gun crossfire. Although a relatively small percentage of voters base their support for a candidate solely on this one issue, those who do are among the most passionate and committed activists in U.S. politics.

More important, for the great swath of voters who decide statewide elections in California, a politician’s stance on abortion rights becomes a handy stereotype with which to pigeonhole that candidate on a broader range of issues.

Therefore, a pro-choice voter who hears the term “pro-life Republican” tends to assume that the politician in question holds views that are hostile to mainstream opinion on health care, environmental and education issues. Similarly, a pro-life voter who hears that a candidate is a “pro-choice Democrat” takes for granted that this politician is a tax-and-spend, save-the-whales, fund-the-Vietcong, old-time liberal.

Successful politicians of both parties are those who are able to break out of this broader stereotype by adopting positions on other issues that destroy this ideological construct for voters suspicious of extremes. In the 1998 election, for example, Davis himself coupled his stands on abortion, gun control and gay rights with more centrist positions on economic and public safety issues.

But in Davis’ case, his first campaign for governor was won by using the abortion issue to paint his opponent into a narrow ideological corner. The overwhelming majority of advertising that he aired during the campaign’s pivotal months centered on this line of attack.

Heading into reelection this fall, the governor and his advisors have been visibly uncomfortable at the prospect of not having the abortion issue as a weapon to use against a pro-choice Republican opponent.

So Davis’ solution has been to hammer Riordan for not being sufficiently pro-choice.

Certainly, there are abortion-related issues on which the two candidates differ. Riordan supports a ban on late-term abortion and a parental consent requirement for pregnant teenagers. Davis opposes both positions.

But the majority of voters stand with Riordan on both points, leaving Davis to question the depth of Riordan’s commitment to the issue.

Davis has attacked Riordan for contributing to pro-life organizations and for the strength of the language he uses to oppose the abortion procedure. But Riordan’s struggle to reconcile his personal opposition to abortion with his support for abortion rights is an internal conflict that most Californians have yet to resolve. If Davis believes that the emotionally grueling debate over abortion is as open and shut as his commercials imply, he is in a small minority of voters for whom the issue requires no serious consideration or equilibrium.

Oddly, Riordan has been largely silent in his own defense. This may be an effort to avoid antagonizing conservative voters in the weeks leading up to a Republican primary. But Riordan himself decided to direct his message to the political middle: He regularly volunteers his position on abortion rights to audiences of all political persuasions. Yet after initially responding to Davis with a generic criticism of the governor’s tactics, Riordan has allowed Davis to continue his assault unanswered.

At some point, Riordan will be forced to confront Davis’ broadsides directly. When that time comes, it should not be difficult for him to respond with a challenge of his own for Davis. “I am opposed to abortion,” Riordan should say. “But I believe in a women’s right to choose. Which one of those two points, Governor, do you think is so wrong?”