Tim Kaine wants to win, and now we know he’ll say anything to do it.
That includes misleading voters on his position on the Hyde Amendment, the popular, bipartisan policy that has protected the conscience rights of taxpayers for decades by stopping federal funding of elective abortions under Medicaid.
The Democratic VP nominee has flip-flopped his position on taxpayer funding of abortion five times in the last month.
Last Friday, Kaine told CNN he supports the Hyde Amendment, contradicting the Clinton-Kaine campaign manager Robby Mook who said Kaine supports repealing Hyde and backs Clinton’s abortion agenda “100%.”
Over the weekend, Kaine said again, “My voting position on abortion hasn’t really changed. I support the Hyde Amendment. I haven’t changed that.”
But when Jonathan Swan reporting for The Hill asked what a Vice President Kaine would do if called upon to cast a tie-breaking vote on this policy in the U.S. Senate, Kaine’s answer — through a spokesperson — is telling:
“We’re just not going to speculating [sic] about the future, we’re focused on winning in November,” the aide said.
If you’re only focused on winning, you are not focused on principles. Kaine clearly has no interest in being up front and honest with the American people.
Voters deserve to know that Tim Kaine stands lock step with Hillary Clinton and the abortion lobby in wanting to force Americans to pay for abortion, on-demand, up until the moment of birth, with their tax dollars.
It is no surprise the campaign is trying to muddy the waters on Kaine’s position. This plan to repeal Hyde is profoundly unpopular — even among Democrats. According to a recent Marist poll, 62 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion, including 44 percent of Democrats. Already four Senate Democrats — Bob Casey, Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Manchin — have spoken out against the plan to repeal, which is now an official plank of the Democratic Party platform.
On that note, The Hill reported that Kaine’s spokesperson added:
“As Tim Kaine has said, while he supports the Hyde Amendment, he has also made it clear that he is fully committed to Hillary Clinton’s policy agenda, which he understands includes repeal of Hyde.
There could be no stronger evidence that conscience has been killed within the Democratic Party. There is no room even for the appearance of moderation on abortion.
Marjorie Dannenfelser is the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a national pro-life organization dedicated to electing leaders and advancing legislation to reduce and ultimately end abortion.
