"While the number of pro-life Democrats still represents a small fraction of the party's candidates, the views they represent have begun to exert a disproportionate influence over its direction. The perceived need to engage with Christian voters prompted Hilary Clinton's recalibration of her abortion position from safe, legal and rare, to safe, legal and never.
"The party's repositioning on this issue is part of a wider attempt to reconnect with cultural conservatives on a basket of issues including guns, gay marriage and the role of the church in people's lives. The Democratic leadership has recognised that the White House will continue to elude them if they appear culturally out of sync with a middle America, for whom faith and traditional family values direct choices at the ballot box.
"So far, the liberal wing of the Democratic party has stayed remarkably mute during the party's shift to the new middle. Expediency has been the byword, especially as the Democrats are so tantalisingly close to regaining one or both Houses of Congress. But as '08 approaches, the Republicans will be ruthless in flushing out dissension in the ranks.
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