WASHINGTON, January 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-lifer and former Indiana Republican Congressman Tim Roemer said Sunday that he plans to run for leadership of the Democratic Party.
Roemer said he respects the opinions of Democrats who favor abortion, and is not seeking to rewrite the party platform. “I’m not asking to rewrite the platform. We have a majority of our party, an overwhelming majority of our party, that is pro-choice, and I respect that. But I think we should not only be more inclusive on this issue, especially in the Midwest and the South if a candidate has those views, we should have them in our party,” he said on ABC’s This Week, as reported by CNN.
Roemer bemoaned the loss of ground by the Democrats in the last US presidential election: the Democratic Party lost 97 of the 100 fastest-growing counties in the United States. “We have four senators, Democrat senators, left in the Deep South,” he said, pointing out that Dems have also lost points with Hispanic and Catholic voters, as well as churchgoing African-American voters.
“The Democratic Party can be faithful to its tradition of standing with the weak and marginalized only when it stands with the weakest and most marginalized, the unborn children,” said Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, in reaction to the announcement. He added, “It is time for the party to end its captivity to the extremist groups in this nation who want abortion legal throughout pregnancy, for any reason, and who don’t even want the voices of pro-life Democrats to be heard in their own party.” Tv