The importance of Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame

I have been silent until now about the president’s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. I did so for a few reasons, chief among them the fact that I am more driven by economic issues than social ones (as should be obvious from the blog’s history).  One other reason was that I simply wasn’t as outraged as so many others were at ND.  Having gone to graduate school at Georgetown, I had seen first-hand the effects of a Catholic-founded school that had departed from its initial calling.  Thus, what Notre Dame’s establishment did surprised me less than most.  Those who have followed the football team and its treatment of Ty Willingham saw that Notre Dame was, well, different now.

What intrigued me more is what Obama himself said in his address, or to be more precise, what I think he felt forced to say.

I’m guessing that in the president’s perfect world, he could have ignored the issue of abortion entirely, or at the very least dismiss it with a wave of his hand and a few choice words (pun partially intended).  It’s the usual Alinksy game: take up the majority position, isolate the minority, and make them look strange and undesirable on some level.

I’m fairly certain that was his plan at ND – and it probably would have worked, until the American people told Gallup their thoughts on the subject and changed everything.

America has had president opposed to pre-born protection before.  They even had one speak at Notre Dame (Jimmy Carter, although that was in a different era and he made it memorable with his appalling naivete about the Soviet Union).  What America had notseen was such a president forced to preside over a pro-life nation.  I guarantee you that Barack Obama didn’t see this in any job description of the presidency that he saw.

Ignoring and dismissing the minority is, when done right, smart and smooth politics. Ignoring and dismissing the majority is almost always a ticket to political oblivion.

Thus Barack Obama became the first such American president to validate the pro-life opposition as a legitimate political movement; you can tell with his words – especially given his insistence that words matter.  Take a look (AP via From On High):

Obama acknowledged that “no matter how much we want to fudge it … the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.”

. . .

“I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,” the president said. 

This is a major departure from the usual political rhetoric.  Opponents of fetal protection always assume -and say so publicly – that this issue will “go away.”  They alwaystry to present the issue as “reconcilable” – if only those non-sensical pro-lifers would get with the program.

Obama didn’t do that, because he knew he couldn’t.  Like his pro-life predecessor (who’s comment on this subject became the famous “good people can disagree on this issue”), he was dealing with an issue where the opposition outnumbered his supporters, and he reacted in much the same way.

It revealed that he is a very astute politician, but it also means that the abortion debate has entered a new phase.  After years of arrogant derision, the pro-choice side is finally beginning to acknowledge the other side as a legitimate political point of view.  That will lead to opportunities and challenges that could very well determine the final outcome (if there is to be one).

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