NARAL and Obama
May 15, 2008 in Politics
NARAL Pro-Choice America have given their support to Barak Obama as their chosen candidate for the Democratic candidate and the Presidential race.
NARAL are a leading campaign group for abortion rights in the US. Until recently, they had remained neutral in the Democratic race as both Clinton and Obama have track records supporting their Pro-choice stance. There are rumors that the board had been evenly split on the decision, but once the announcement came the board were said to be behind Barak Obama unanimously.
Clinton, being the female candidate, had been expecting to receive their support herself. She has done a great deal of campaigning for pro-choice rights and has been a leading figure in women’s rights particularly in respect of fertility. She has also been able to count on their support for all of her previous races including the New York mayoral race.
She doesn’t need to worry about NARAL working against her, NARAL officials made it clear they were not snubbing Hilary and will not be funding advertising campaigns (they will be keeping the war chest for the real presidential race). However, losing NARAL support to Obama has been something of a blow to her. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Despite winning the recent primary, it is currently looking like the Clinton campaign is running out of steam and Obama has the increasing momentum. This decision by NARAL will undoubtedly mean that she slips further behind in the eyes of the media, political followers and the all important super-delegates. Obama, on the other hand, is increasingly showing his strength in battle. No doubt he is impressing people with his skill on the campaign trail. This will be important to anyone who is looking for the candidate best able to defeat McCain come the real presidential race.