The news media seems to have a hard time understanding why pro-life Chris Christie will win big in today's governors race in New Jersey whereas pro-life Ken Cuccinelli is expected to lose in Virginia. Disclaimer, I do not live in New Jersey and have not lived in Virginia for more than 8 yrs.
It seems pretty clear to me that many Democrats will forgive Christie for being pro-life because they know he is harmless on this issue as the strong Democratic state congress would never pass a pro-life bill. So far as I know, Christie has not pushed for any pro-life legislation. And then there is the BIG issue in the state over Hurricane Sandy that did so much damage. Christie's aggressive pursual of Federal aid was appreciated by both Democrats and Republicans who forgave him for personally dealing with the hated President Obama. This outreach to the president may be part of the reason that Democrats are not trying to unseat Christie. Then there is sort of an attractiveness for Christie's "in-your-face" speaking style, though in many cases it is quite rude.
On the other hand Cuccinelli is dangerous in Virginia with his stance on pro-life because strong legislation has been passed in Virginia to control women's bodies. Cuccinelli has pushed pro-life issues, such as the trans-vaginal probe* that has angered so many women, even before he was Attorney General of Virginia and in the legislature. He has rendered a legal opinion that supports any abortion clinic* that does more then 5 abortions a month should be classified as a hospital rather than outpatient clinics. He has been deep in the war on women. Besides he has had no opportunity to do something big for Virginia such as recovery after a natural disaster.
Also the news media dearly seems to want these gubernatorial elections to have national significance. Perhaps, they should, but I doubt it. Only New York had similar damage to New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, but the governor there is not running for reelection this year and many out of state Republicans will not forgive Christie for sucking up to President Obama. There are a few other states that have been aggressive in the war on women. Perhaps Oklahoma might be in play in view of a law ruled unconstitutional outlawing three drugs used to induce abortion, but memories will have to be long for anger to last until election time.
* "Abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures for women in the United States. Fewer than 0.5% of women obtaining abortions experience a complication, and the risk of death associated with abortion is about one-tenth that associated with childbirth. (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sfaa/virginia.html) AND
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A woman must undergo an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion; the provider must offer her the option to view the image. If the woman lives within 100 miles of the abortion provider she must obtain the ultrasound at least 24 hours before the abortion." (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sfaa/virginia.html)
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