Alter, who is apparently a cancer survivor, nails the political potential for the stem-cell issue in this week's Newsweek. As Alter notes, the innovative science presents a possible cure for a wide range of diseases from "cancer to Parkinson's to Alzheimer's..."
From there he notes:
After all, every American who has a relative with one of these diseases—which means nearly every American—is beginning to understand the issue in a new way: it's "pro-cure" versus "anti-cure," with the anti-stem-cell folks in danger of being swept into the medical wastebin of history.But Bush is so beholden to the theocrats, he doesn't care. Nor do many of the members of the House who voted against the stem-cell bill....and the nuts in the Senate, like Brownback, are going to filibuster. This is going to be a political issue in 2006:
Unless there's another war [key caveat from Alter given the Bush crowd], stem cells will become one of the defining issues of the 2006 campaign. Look for smart Democrats to run ads with relatives of the afflicted ("My sister has Parkinson's," "My father has Alzheimer's") pointing out that Congressman X is so extreme, he voted against a bill supported by many Republicans to begin curing these diseases. This will inevitably lead to backpedaling and compromise and the victory of a broad-based "pro-cure movement" that may help save not just my life, but your cousin's or your mother's or your own.I am part of the pro-cure movement. My 5 year old god daughter has been fighting leukemia for over a year now. And, there is so much cancer, diabetes and other diseases in my family and circle of friends -- and I know it's true for almost everyone -- that if the issue can be raised high enough, it can be decisive. As Alter says, quoting Tip O'Neill, "all politics is local."
Bush and the Catholic Church are so out of their minds on this one, they deserve to lose badly. Alter wrote a great piece for a great cause, but this was my favorite line:
Only Bush bitter-enders and the pope are in the perverse position of valuing the life of an ailing human being less than that of a tiny clump of cells no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.I have this feeling that the Democrats are getting a lot of gifts, like stem-cell nationally and coin-gate in Ohio. The question is whether they can and will capitalize on them.
