A little-known candidate in Omaha’s mayoral race just started a national street fight inside the Democratic Party. Normally Heath Mello would escape notice, but he’s in the national spotlight because he doesn’t support abortion on demand and enjoys the support of Bernie Sanders.
The abortion lobby and the liberal blogosphere has whipped itself into a frenzy and is demanding an apology from Sanders for his endorsement of Mello in the Nebraska city’s Democratic primary. Sanders so far is unapologetic. And now the subsequent scuffle has the party faithful suddenly wondering whether accepting abortion orthodoxy is actually a prerequisite to membership in the Democrat party.
Deep-pocked donors like NARAL Pro-Choice America aren’t ready to make it optional. Sanders’ support for Mello’s bid for mayor, the group’s president Ilyse Hogue said, “is not only disappointing, it is politically stupid.”
Dismissing that criticism, Sanders doubled down on his endorsement of the candidate, telling NPR he “absolutely want him to win.”
But honestly the dustup over Mello seems overhyped. As the Omaha World-Herald explains, he’s not the radical fundamentalist that critics describe.
Here’s the source of the anger:
Mello, a state legislator, in 2009 co-sponsored a bill that would require doctors to notify women of the availability of an ultrasound before procuring an abortion. Mello’s bill was a compromise: the original bill would require women to view those images before an abortion.
Fiscally liberal and socially conservative, the mayoral hopeful is an old-school Democrat doing his best to remain competitive in a deep red state. According to top party brass that’s the kind of candidate Democrats desperately need right now.
“In order to execute a 50-state strategy, we need to understand what’s going on in all 50 states, and attract candidates who are consistent with their messages but perhaps not on 100 percent of the issues,” DNC Chair Tom Perez told the Wall Street Journal. “If you demand fealty on every single issue, then it’s a challenge.”
Honestly, Perez is probably right.
Hillary Clinton lost her shot at the White House because she couldn’t connect in the Midwest. On the campaign, she allowed coastal social issues to overshadow economic concerns. Rustbelt voters abandoned Clinton, as WaPo’s James Hohmann explains, when they became convinced that “Clinton cared more about bathrooms than jobs.”
Now Sanders looks to be correcting that oversight. Regardless of the rage from pro-abortion groups, the Vermont senator has put economic populism first at the expense of the Left’s culture-war dogma. Perhaps that’s why he has endorses an anti-abortion candidate like Mello while turning his nose up at pro-abortion Jon Ossoff, whose play for the upper-middle-class suburbanites has earned him the label “bland” by pitchfork progressive writers.
Sanders wasn’t sure about the golden boy when interviewed by the Journal on Wednesday. “Some Democrats are progressive,” he demurred, “and some Democrats are not.”
Coming from the last liberal giant with national appeal, that message can’t be ignored. As Democrats try to rediscover their brand, Sanders seems to be signaling the need for a new, more inclusive platform to avoid another 2016 disaster. Borrowing a phrase from the Clintons, it’s like Sanders is signaling that “it’s still the economy, stupid.”
It’s not clear if the left can stop tearing itself apart long enough to listen.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
