Soon the Republicans will hold their first presidential debate of this election cycle, showcasing alternatives to the kind of messaging favored by media darling Donald Trump — if they can find one, that is.
The press is piling on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for an unscripted add-on to his comments to the Southern Baptist Convention in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood, saying the money currently going to the nation’s largest abortion provider could instead go to other health organizations “although I’m not sure we need a half billion dollars for women’s health issues.”
Obviously, this is the phrase we’ll hear most.
Bush’s comments are nowhere nearly as bad as some of the macabre things Planned Parenthood is seen doing in the much-discussed videos that some are eager to deflect attention from, to say nothing of all the elective abortions the organization performs off-camera. There is more context to Bush’s comment about women’s health issues, which the campaign quickly walked back with a statement. And who would want to have their every utterance exposed to this level of scrutiny?
But I can’t help but agree with the Weekly Standard’s John McCormack: “Isn’t one benefit of an establishment candidate supposed to be that he’s not going to make gaffes like this?”
After all, we’re not far removed from Mitt Romney’s “I like to fire people” chestnut, much less Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape.” The Democrats have built an entire “war on women” cottage industry devoted to portraying Republicans, especially social conservatives, in the least favorable possible light. Why give them more ammunition via unforced errors?
More to the point, Bush is rusty. He last ran for office in 2002, the same year George Pataki won his final term as governor of New York. Will he be able to counter Democratic narratives about the GOP Thursday night, much less effectively counter Trump?
We’ll soon see. Republicans are currently engaged in a fight on the Planned Parenthood front. Their opponents hope to portray this not as a fight for life, but a fight against women’s health. Will their top ten presidential candidates, all men since Carly Fiorina didn’t meet the threshold to qualify, help them define the battle lines and ultimately win?
