Planned Parenthood
05-07-2005, 03:36 PM
*Looks like Suozzi is about to betray the rank in file of the Democratic Party on the abortion issue. He should be listening to successful former and current Democratic operatives like Dennis Holland, Kevin Langberg, and Martha Offerman instead of this loser Jay Jacobs. Emily's List will not be showering Tom Suozzi with love in 2005 or 2006 because of this, the lastest in his attempt to prove to the Conservative Party that he is a rightwinger, and not a liberal Democrat.
Suozzi cares more about what the Conservative Party thinks than about the rank in file of his own party. The Conservative Party backed Bruce Bent in 2001, not Tom Suozzi. This cannot be forgotten. So, Suozzi might get a couple more votes on the Nassau County Conservative Party Executive Committee when he is screened for their nomination for County Exeuctive, or he might get more support in Albany for a Conservative Run for Governor. But this is pathetic, and morally bankrupt.
Newsday has it wrong though. Spitzer will kill Suozzi in a Democratic Primary. Right to Lifers don't vote in Democratic Primaries. Liberal, pro choice voters participate in these primaries, and they will turn out by the busload to beat Suozzi into the ground in September, 2006.
Suozzi's pro life stance is mornonic, unless he runs as a Republican candidate for Governor in 2006. Eliot Spitzer has been a champion of Reproductive Rights and Freedom, a genuine pro-choice candidate who cares about women's issues and does not waiver in the wind because it may give him a slight advantage in one political race or another. Eliot Spitzer would never seek to cross endorse a District Attorney Candidate who based his career on fighting planned parenthood and seeking to end legal abortion.
Attorney General Spitzer created a Reproductive Freedom Bureau in his Attorney General's Office. He championed litigation which used the RICO statutes to enjoin right to lifers from blocking women's access to abortion clinics and harrassing doctors who perform abortions.
Again, Suozzi must have jackasses giving him political advice. He needs to dump Jay Jacobs. Thank god the Party isn't bothering Holland anymore. And it is a shame that the Democrats lost Martha Offerman. The only people left in the Nassau Democratic party are those who are brown nosing Tom. Too bad.
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Suozzi to push abortion alternatives
Email this story
BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD
STAFF WRITER
May 7, 2005
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, wading into the contentious debate on women's reproductive health, intends in a speech Tuesday to propose spending $3 million in county funds over three years to reduce abortions, administration officials said.
Suozzi, who supports abortion rights, is following in the path of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other Democrats who say they are seeking common ground with those on the other side of the divisive issue. Political observers immediately said the address at Adelphi University indicates that Suozzi hopes to run for governor next year as a Catholic, moderate Democrat.
Suozzi plans to speak of his convictions as a Catholic and his responsibility as an elected official to curtail abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies and offering other options for pregnant women such as adoption or homes for single mothers, sources familiar with the speech said. Catholic teaching forbids abortion and contraception.
Suozzi declined to comment. Legislative Majority Leader Judith Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who discussed the speech with Suozzi, said "he feels he has a moral responsibility to increase the alternatives out there to lower the abortion rate." The county legislature, dominated by Democrats, would have to approve the expenditures.
In January, Clinton sparked controversy by calling abortion "a sad, even tragic choice."
Some women's advocates have expressed concern that pro-choice Democrats, from Clinton to Catholic politicians including former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and former New York governor and Suozzi mentor Mario Cuomo, have marginalized abortion rights in an appeal to the political center.
"I've had it up to here with politicians who are agonizing over the issue and trying to place themselves in the position of the great peacemaker," said Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York.
But Suozzi's perceived message drew praise from disparate quarters. Nassau Conservative Party chairman Roger Bogsted, an abortion foe, said Suozzi was showing "a lot of courage" to talk about the subject. And JoAnn Smith, president of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, applauded him for proposing money for the type of educational programs her group offers.
The decision by Suozzi to jump into a policy arena seldom entered by local officials fueled speculation that he is positioning himself as a centrist for a primary next year against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic front-runner for governor.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political strategist, said Suozzi's message would appeal to Catholic voters in areas such as Buffalo and the New York City suburbs. Spitzer is Jewish.
"Eliot has been prosecutor, Suozzi has been manager, now Suozzi is adding on, 'I'm a Catholic who is a good thinker on social issues,'" Sheinkopf said.
Suozzi has not declared himself a candidate for governor; he faces re-election as county executive this November. Spitzer's campaign declined to comment.
Suozzi cares more about what the Conservative Party thinks than about the rank in file of his own party. The Conservative Party backed Bruce Bent in 2001, not Tom Suozzi. This cannot be forgotten. So, Suozzi might get a couple more votes on the Nassau County Conservative Party Executive Committee when he is screened for their nomination for County Exeuctive, or he might get more support in Albany for a Conservative Run for Governor. But this is pathetic, and morally bankrupt.
Newsday has it wrong though. Spitzer will kill Suozzi in a Democratic Primary. Right to Lifers don't vote in Democratic Primaries. Liberal, pro choice voters participate in these primaries, and they will turn out by the busload to beat Suozzi into the ground in September, 2006.
Suozzi's pro life stance is mornonic, unless he runs as a Republican candidate for Governor in 2006. Eliot Spitzer has been a champion of Reproductive Rights and Freedom, a genuine pro-choice candidate who cares about women's issues and does not waiver in the wind because it may give him a slight advantage in one political race or another. Eliot Spitzer would never seek to cross endorse a District Attorney Candidate who based his career on fighting planned parenthood and seeking to end legal abortion.
Attorney General Spitzer created a Reproductive Freedom Bureau in his Attorney General's Office. He championed litigation which used the RICO statutes to enjoin right to lifers from blocking women's access to abortion clinics and harrassing doctors who perform abortions.
Again, Suozzi must have jackasses giving him political advice. He needs to dump Jay Jacobs. Thank god the Party isn't bothering Holland anymore. And it is a shame that the Democrats lost Martha Offerman. The only people left in the Nassau Democratic party are those who are brown nosing Tom. Too bad.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suozzi to push abortion alternatives
Email this story
BY MICHAEL ROTHFELD
STAFF WRITER
May 7, 2005
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, wading into the contentious debate on women's reproductive health, intends in a speech Tuesday to propose spending $3 million in county funds over three years to reduce abortions, administration officials said.
Suozzi, who supports abortion rights, is following in the path of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other Democrats who say they are seeking common ground with those on the other side of the divisive issue. Political observers immediately said the address at Adelphi University indicates that Suozzi hopes to run for governor next year as a Catholic, moderate Democrat.
Suozzi plans to speak of his convictions as a Catholic and his responsibility as an elected official to curtail abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies and offering other options for pregnant women such as adoption or homes for single mothers, sources familiar with the speech said. Catholic teaching forbids abortion and contraception.
Suozzi declined to comment. Legislative Majority Leader Judith Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who discussed the speech with Suozzi, said "he feels he has a moral responsibility to increase the alternatives out there to lower the abortion rate." The county legislature, dominated by Democrats, would have to approve the expenditures.
In January, Clinton sparked controversy by calling abortion "a sad, even tragic choice."
Some women's advocates have expressed concern that pro-choice Democrats, from Clinton to Catholic politicians including former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and former New York governor and Suozzi mentor Mario Cuomo, have marginalized abortion rights in an appeal to the political center.
"I've had it up to here with politicians who are agonizing over the issue and trying to place themselves in the position of the great peacemaker," said Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York.
But Suozzi's perceived message drew praise from disparate quarters. Nassau Conservative Party chairman Roger Bogsted, an abortion foe, said Suozzi was showing "a lot of courage" to talk about the subject. And JoAnn Smith, president of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, applauded him for proposing money for the type of educational programs her group offers.
The decision by Suozzi to jump into a policy arena seldom entered by local officials fueled speculation that he is positioning himself as a centrist for a primary next year against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic front-runner for governor.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political strategist, said Suozzi's message would appeal to Catholic voters in areas such as Buffalo and the New York City suburbs. Spitzer is Jewish.
"Eliot has been prosecutor, Suozzi has been manager, now Suozzi is adding on, 'I'm a Catholic who is a good thinker on social issues,'" Sheinkopf said.
Suozzi has not declared himself a candidate for governor; he faces re-election as county executive this November. Spitzer's campaign declined to comment.