Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Michelman announces she will NOT challenge Casey
... But she did cause quite a stir, and in the end is a blow to the Casey campaign.
Pro-choice activist Kate Michelman won't be an independent candidate in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race.http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060314-122202-5310r.htm
Despite pressure from abortion-rights supporters, the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said she would not run in the November election, which likely will feature two candidates who oppose abortion: Democrat Bob Casey Jr. and incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Santorum.
Ms. Michelman, 63, considered entering the race after Mr. Casey said he would have voted to confirm Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. for the U.S. Supreme Court. There was fear among many Democrats that Ms. Michelman's entrance into the race would split the vote in November in Mr. Santorum's favor, the Associated Press reports.
"Despite profound and fundamental differences, I have decided that Pennsylvania will be better served by electing Bob Casey to the U.S. Senate than giving his opponent another term," Ms. Michelman wrote in an op-ed piece published in Sunday's edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I do this knowing that I may forever regret not responding one more time to the clarion call of principle."