The Sarah Palin Show: Palin Agrees with Obama - on abortion - well, sort of

I wasn't sure I had heard it correctly, but when I went back to check the transcript, there it was; Governor Sarah Palin suggesting a way forward on the divisive issue of abortion. And the way she said it sounded, at first blush, like an Obama quote.

I have to admit that on the issue of abortion I'm more on board with Governor Palin than Senator Obama. But I've appreciated Obama's attempts to try and find a way out of the polarizing impasse.

It appears as if Palin was trying to do the same in the response she gave to Gibson's queries about the issue in the interview broadcast as a blurb on tonight's ABC news cast. Probing the accusation that she takes a hard core approach to abortion, what Gibson got instead was a white flag. Yes, she was playing politics. But it beats her pit-bull attacks at the convention. In this case I choose to be optimistic.

Note (with astonishment) how close the two sides are:

Palin: (from abc.com) What I want to do (is to) be able to reach out and work with those who are on the other side of this issue, because I know that we can all agree on the need for and the desire for fewer abortions in America . . .



Obama: (at the Saddleback forum.) What I can do is say there are ways that we can work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies so that we actually are reducing the sense that women are seeking out abortions . . .

"I think the better answer -- and this was reflected in the Democratic platform -- is to figure out, how do we make sure the young mothers, or women who have a pregnancy that's unexpected or difficult, have the kind of support they need to make a whole range of choices, including adoption and keeping the child."