In light of Senator Daschle's attempt to parse his fundraising e-mail on behalf of NARAL as "for a colleague and not a cause" it's important to digest what the New York Times had to say about Senator Daschle's election to the Senate in 1986.
In a piece by Linda Greenhouse dated November 13, 1986, (shortly after Daschle's defeat of Senator Jim Abdnor) and entitled "A Turning Point On the Abortion Issue?" the NYT reported the following (the piece even contained a photo of Daschle):
After long years on the defensive, advocates of abortion rights are cheering the results of last week's elections. They say that the victory of pro-choice candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the defeat of several anti-abortion measures on state ballots, strengthens their movement not only to resist further erosion, but to regain the initiative on such issues as public financing of abortions for poor women....Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League, says the pro-choice side picked up at least three seats in the Senate and five in the House, while no pro-choice incumbent was defeated for any Federal office.
The three Senate seats, all won by Democrats, are in Georgia, with the substitution of Wyche Fowler Jr. for an anti-abortion Republican freshman, Mack Mattingly; South Dakota, where Representative Tom Daschle defeated James Abdnor; and North Carolina, where the Senate seat was held by one of the chamber's most committed abortion foes, John P. East, until his suicide last summer.
Isn't it interesting that the New York Times and NARAL knew Tom Daschle's true position on abortion only TWO WEEKS AFTER Daschle had sent out a letter to constituents in South Dakota stating "The truth is I am unalterably opposed to abortion on demand"? The letter was even enclosed with a letter from a pastor in Freeman, SD vouching for Daschle's pro-life credentials. You can read a PDF copy of the letters by clicking HERE.
Below is a screen capture of Daschle's 1986 letter:
Contrast that letter with Daschle's apparent long and cozy relationship with NARAL, which led him to write a mass fundraising e-mail on NARAL's behalf in 2002. Below is a screen capture of Daschle's NARAL e-mail:
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