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Schiavo politics far from usual

By ADAM C. SMITH
Published March 22, 2005

	[Times photo: Willie J. Allen Jr.]
	Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri Schiavo's sister, celebrates with her father, Bob Schindler, after the congressional decision to intervene in the case.

Politicians - especially Democrats - may be divided over the Terri Schiavo case, but the public certainly isn't.

Poll after poll finds overwhelming majorities support Michael Schiavo's efforts to remove his wife's feeding tube. The latest survey, released Monday by ABC News, showed 63 percent of Americans support removal of the feeding tube and 70 percent think Congress' intervention was inappropriate.

But if it seems obvious for politicians to stay out of the Schiavo controversy, think again.

Many Democrats are still fretting over exit polls that found eight in 10 voters who cited "moral values" as their top issue backed President Bush. Eager to avoid appearing out of step on social issues, they have been toning down their abortion rights rhetoric, talking up their faith, and treading very uneasily around the Schiavo controversy.

For most of last week, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, whom Republicans are targeting for defeat in 2006, would not take a position on Congress getting involved. He ended up supporting the intervention.

"This may be the lessons of the November elections coming home to roost," Gary Cass, director of the Center for Reclaiming America, a grass roots Christian political network, said of Senate Democrats declining to derail the extraordinary congressional move into the Schiavo case.

Meanwhile, Republicans want to avoid antagonizing a key part of their base. Evangelical conservatives who helped Bush win a second term have seized on the Schiavo controversy as part of protecting what Bush calls a "culture of life."

The votes of social conservatives will be essential in maintaining the GOP's 29-vote margin in the House, and the Schiavo case should help, said Allan J. Lichtman, a history professor at American University who follows congressional politics. "Here is a free shot for Republicans to stoke their conservative base without much fear of Democratic retaliation, because this is an issue Democrats fear to touch," Lichtman said.

The Democrats' muddled response was clear from the reaction of party leaders. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi denounced the congressional intervention while Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid worked closely with Republicans to pass it.

When he was a presidential candidate in 2003, Howard Dean, the new Democratic National Committee chairman, said Florida lawmakers should not interfere in the Schiavo case. He called it a "private family matter."

"I am tired of people in the Legislature thinking they have an M.D. when what they really have is a B.S.!" he told an approving crowd in Tallahassee.

And what did Dean have to say Monday, after President Bush signed a bill aimed at prolonging the Pinellas woman's life? "We're just not going to weigh in on this," said a Dean spokesman.

Many of the state and federal lawmakers weighing in on the Schiavo case are doing so out of moral conviction. But political considerations are rampant.

Republican congressional leaders had to distance themselves from a memo uncovered last week that touted the political benefits of the Schiavo bill.

"This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited," the memo said. "This is a great political issue because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats."

A spokesman for Nelson, Dan McLaughlin, said Nelson sees enough conflicting medical opinion that "the parents of Terri Schiavo deserve one final appeal to the federal courts."

--Staff writers Wes Allison, Anita Kumar, and Carrie Johnson contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 22, 2005, 06:28:29]