Obama and Abortion

Wise words from Noah Millman:

I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but Doug Kmiec would do well to admit that he has backed a ticket that will be absolutely uncompromising in its support for abortion rights. There is no chance whatsoever that Obama will make the slightest gesture in the direction of moderation on this question, and there is no chance that any appointments to the court will not be litmus tested on this question. Bank on it. He showed no inclination to do so before, and now he has powerful political reasons to be absolutely doctrinaire on this question. There are other places where he can bend – gun rights is, I think, the most likely and the most important – but not here. Yes, that gives a (mild) advantage to McCain on this question, but Obama cannot afford heterodoxy here.

In terms of the (thin) hope that the Democratic Party might move toward the center on abortion, I don't think there's any question that Hillary Clinton would have been a better bet than Obama. If nothing else, there's no way he can ever give a speech like this to a family planning group.

Also, there's much more in Noah's post, so read the whole thing.