The Wall Street Journal-20080122-Campaign -08- Planned Parenthood to Push Candidacies
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Campaign '08: Planned Parenthood to Push Candidacies
WASHINGTON -- For the first time, abortion-rights advocate Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. is launching a major effort to elect pro-abortion-rights candidates to Congress and the White House in November.
The nation's largest reproductive-health-care provider plans to spend $10 million in hopes of persuading one million people to vote for abortion-rights candidates in the 2008 election. Planned Parenthood will roll out its election plans today to mark the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal.
With its "One Million Strong" campaign, Planned Parenthood becomes the latest Washington interest group to launch an independent effort to elect candidates who back its priorities. Since Congress enacted a campaign-finance-reform law banning large financial contributions to the Republican and Democratic parties, a growing number of individuals, labor unions, corporations and other interest groups have started or boosted their own campaigns to elect like-minded candidates.
In the presidential primaries, the fiscally conservative Club for Growth has aired television advertisements against Republican candidates who have backed tax increases in the past. Labor unions have spent heavily to support Democratic candidates they endorse. And Emily's List, a group that supports pro-abortion-rights female Democrats, has funded a campaign to get women to go to the polls for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
In all, Emily's List hopes to exceed the $46 million it raised for the 2006 election. Another abortion-rights organization, Naral Pro- Choice America, plans to spend $10 million on the general election.
Together, the efforts by the three abortion-rights groups are the most aggressive attempt by abortion-rights advocates to elect like- minded candidates -- most of whom are likely to be Democrats.
The campaign spending by Planned Parenthood and the other groups will compete against conservative organizations who are spending money to elect antiabortion Republicans, so it isn't clear how much impact the efforts will have on turnout and voters' choices.
The efforts come at a time when many abortion-rights advocates feel they are under attack. Since President Bush took office, he has nominated federal judges who have chipped away at abortion rights and installed two antiabortion justices to the Supreme Court. Two of the oldest justices on the current Supreme Court are liberal. If a Republican wins the 2008 presidential election, two more conservative judges could be added to the court.
Until recently, Planned Parenthood hadn't played a role in elections. In 2004, the organization endorsed Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president, marking the first time it had endorsed a presidential candidate in its 90-year history. In 2006, Planned Parenthood lent its backing to a handful of Democratic candidates for governor.
Officials at Planned Parenthood say they decided to move into the campaign arena because they say reproductive rights are under assault by Republicans. The political effort will be led by Cecile Richards, the organization's president, who has a long history of working in Democratic politics. "To keep our doors open," Ms. Richards said, "it's clear that we need to step into the electoral arena."
A former aide to Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, Ms. Richards took over Planned Parenthood last year. She is the daughter of Ann Richards, the former Democratic governor of Texas.
Ms. Richards said she believes Planned Parenthood can rally an important demographic that has proved to be elusive to the traditional political parties and candidates: young, unmarried independent and Democratic women.
Nearly 70% of Planned Parenthood's clients are between the ages of 18 and 29; and most are not wealthy, according to figures provided by the organization."Women voters and young adults already trust Planned Parenthood's health information -- and this year they'll be able to rely on the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for election information," Ms. Richards said.
This year's presidential primaries underscore the importance of women and younger voters. In New Hampshire, women made up 57% of the Democratic vote and helped to deliver a surprising win to Mrs. Clinton. In Iowa, younger voters are credited with propelling Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois to victory.
Planned Parenthood has a potent political tool to reach its target voters: a database of nearly four million people. About five million women visit Planned Parenthood clinics across the country each year and 10 million people browse Planned Parenthood's Web site, the organization says.
The Planned Parenthood campaign will be run by a legally separate entity that was set as a 501(c)4 organization called the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. In the past few years, an increasing number of interest groups have formed 501(c)4 groups to fund their political efforts in part because Internal Revenue Service rules allow them to keep the names of their donors secret.
Planned Parenthood will fund political advertisements for candidates and organize paid staffers and volunteers to go door-to-door seeking votes.
