Political Forecast

This Radio Iowa piece, for what it is worth, adds a bit more dimension to the Blouin endorsement beyond their 44-year friendship:

“Miller says Blouin appeals to “people in the middle” and he says those kind of candidates always fare best on election day. Miller lost his own bid for governor, losing the 1992 Democratic primary partly due to his pro-life stand.

Blouin, too, has been dogged by what critics call his “anti-choice” views. Miller says Blouin is “on his way” to dealing with the issue. Blouin has pledged not to sign legislation that would restrict or expand abortion. “I think that that is reassurance to the people who believe government should not be involved in this,” Miller says.

But Miller concedes the abortion issue will dog Blouin throughout the primary. “It’s not going to go away tomorrow and it’ll be discussed and it should be. It’s a big issue,” Miller says. “But I think ultimately people will judge (Blouin) on his abilities, his experience, his vision.”"

So, another common political link is the pro-life stance that they both take. That’s a personal belief, probably influenced a lot by Blouin’s Catholicism. That’s fine with me–I’ve got nothing personal against Blouin or his faith.

I just think that Iowa needs a governor that will be strong and stand-up for a woman’s reproductive rights and freedom over her body. Mike Blouin won’t honestly be seen as that candidate to protect any threat to those particular issues. I’m a Catholic by bringing-up as well, but then again, I don’t exactly agree with all the stances of the Catholic church. There are people with differences in the party and that’s absolutely fine with me.

And I must say this as well, I mean no disrespect to Blouin or Miller by offering this connection up. I think it just points out that it isn’t necessarily the issues that matter in the endorsement, but the friendship and personal convictions that carry weight.

It must also be said that the abortion issue will dog Blouin for the rest of his campaign, contrary to what Miller and others may think.

UPDATE: Read John Deeth’s thoughts here as well. Very interesting.