THE BUSH CAMPAIGN SAYS GEORGE BUSH IS FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH — BIG TIME — according to a statement titled “Embryonic Stem Cell Misinformation.”
Who knew?
In the roster of “facts” provided in the statement, Bush-Cheney 2004 states:
President Bush delivered the first funding ever for embryonic stem cell research. Prior to the President’s announcement of new funding, federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was $0.
The President’s announcement did not ban, limit or restrict stem cell research.
It is inaccurate to say the President “limited federal funding” of stem cell research, as such funding did not exist to limit. This language misleads voters to believe that the President put restrictions on existing federal funding.
The President did announce the first ever federal funding of stem cell research with ethical requirements on which stem cell lines are funded.
What is interesting about this statement is not a micro-analysis of what Bush has technically done to enhance or hinder stem cell research.
What amazes me is that this Bush-Cheney statement is kind of like Kerry’s straddle that he voted for the $87 billion Iraq bill before he voted against it. Or Clinton’s famous line of defense that it wasn’t really sex, technically speaking.
Is Bush trying to convince some that he is for stem cell research — and others that he is opposed?
Get John Edwards on the phone — and get someone there tonight to prod Dick Cheney to issue a communique to the religious fundamentalists in the Republican Party that George W. Bush & Co. have fooled them and have been for stem cell research all along.
Maybe we can get the RNC to send a mailer to West Virginia and Arkansas to make clear President Bush’s views on stem cell research.
Someone forward this blog entry to Ron Reagan. I’d love to hear his response.
— Steve Clemons
