Thumb'suck er n. journalistic sl. Article or report that setsthe stage for a major event by filling the space or air time normallyallocated for news with inconsequential details, speculation andblather, esp. by spin doctors. (Also: Situationer, Filler,Curtain-raiser).
Heavens to Betsy! Have you heard what Barbara Bush said aboutthe A-word? Of course you have - thanks to a barrage of perfectlytimed and masterfully spin-doctored thumbsuckers.
Every newspaper, TV anchor and radio talk jockey in America istalking about it, as the Republicans converge on Houston thisweekend, for what promises to be a sharply divided convention. Thefirst lady has a teensy, weensy bone to pick with the RepublicanPlatform Committee about its planks on "personal things" that shedoesn't think are any of Big Brother's business, she disclosed.Things like oh, for example - are you sitting down? - abortion.
"I'm not being outspoken or pro or con abortion," she said,tiptoeing through a minefield in a White House interview last weekwith a carefully selected group of reporters. "I'm saying abortionshould not be in there, either pro or con."
But in saying abortion should not be "in there," she alignsherself with the overwhelming majority of women who recoil at thenotion of government intruding in such private decisions as whetherto carry a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest to term.
So the cat's out of the bag. The popular first lady, who willhave a major speaking role at this convention, is a pro-choicesympathizer, just as many of us suspected all along. She willprobably use her moment in the spotlight to urge pro-choicers to keepthe faith, leading to speculation about the length of her coattails.Are they long enough to carry George Bush and Dan Quayle, who havealso admitted to timely misgivings about the party line on abortion,to victory over the emphatically pro-choice Bill Clinton and Al Gore?
It's worth a try, with popular support for legal abortionsmounting daily and reflected in every poll. Look for one more,coming Tuesday from a group headed by Chicagoan J. B. Pritzker, todemonstrate the depth of pro-choice sentiment among18-to-40-year-olds, a critical constituency.
Only 12.4 percent of likely Republican voters surveyed byRobinson Muenster last week for Pritzker's Democratic Leadership forthe 21st Century agreed with the official GOP position on abortion,Pritzker said.
Asked to decide which view about abortion comes closest to theirown, a staggering 61.9 percent of all likely voters selected"Abortion should be permitted so a woman can make her own choice,"27.6 percent chose "Abortion should be permitted only in cases ofrape, incest or danger to the woman's life" and 3.6 percent wereundecided. In other words, 89.5 percent shunned the extreme GOPposition that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Only7 percent of all likely voters, Democratic and Republican, called theview, "Abortion should never be permitted" closest to their own.
Having taken the hard line, Republicans have their work cut outfor them: to persuade voters to just trust them - a ploy all tooreminiscent of Bush's promise of "no new taxes" four years ago. Aspolitical consultant Ted Muenster sees it, no amount of sweet talkfrom Mrs. Bush can suggest that her husband was only kidding when heimplemented the "gag" rule or appointed abortion hard-liners to theSupreme Court.
Bush "is trapped in the Faustian deal Republicans made withfundamentalists 12 years ago, and he's paying a heavy price for it,"Muenster said. And Bush's wife's opinion in the matter hasn't madea difference yet.
Carole Ashkinaze is a member of the Chicago Sun-Times editorialboard.
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