printable versionCan stem cells rock the vote?
BY TRACIE WHITE
This fall's elections may be a key indicator of whether stem cell research has gained power as a political weapon in the five years since President Bush imposed limitations on federal funding for the research, political analysts say.
Despite the public's overwhelming disapproval of Bush's veto last month blocking legislation that would have eased the funding restrictions, other issues such as the war in Iraq and the economy will most likely overshadow stem cell research as a defining issue in the elections.
Still, stem cell research has become a strong political tool since 2001, and already candidates have begun to take advantage of its political clout.
"It's not going to be the single-most important issue of any race," said Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "It's not going to be gay marriage, it's not going to be abortion. Part of that is the political climate. Voters are more concerned about the war, about the economy."
But with 70 percent of Americans favoring stem cell research in public opinion polls, and patient-advocate groups bumping up their support of pro-stem cell candidates as the November elections draw closer, the issue may play a major role in many key political battles.
"Politicians are using it as a way to distinguish themselves from the competition," said Christopher Scott, executive director of the Stanford Program on Stem Cells in Society.
Within hours of Bush's July veto, stem cell research sprang to the forefront of some crucial campaigns, including ones for governor, senator and representative in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee. In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has made his support for embryonic stem cell research a centerpiece of his re-election campaign, running television ads attacking his opponent as being against the research.
In many cases, Republican moderates, mindful of public support for the research and expecting promised attacks from Democrats, have sought to distinguish their positions from the president's.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election in a state dominated by Democrats, rushed to lend $150 million from the state's general fund to pay for grants to stem cell scientists, strengthening his position as a moderate Republican as he faces Democratic opponent Phil Angelides.
"For some Republicans, a vote in favor of expanding stem cell research is a chance to play to the middle and show independence from Bush," Duffy said. "As for Democrats, most of them support expanding stem cell research and they see it as a wedge issue that divides moderate Republicans from social conservatives."
Stem cell research would seem to have all the makings of a perfect wedge issue, with voters saying they disagree with the president's veto by about a 2-to-1 ratio in nearly every poll.
"It's an issue that cuts across party lines," said Daniel Perry, executive director of the nonprofit Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C. "We're seeing odd bedfellows like Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch lined up on the same side on this issue. It's an issue that cuts across every division in our society because disease is no respecter of party politics, race, ethnicity or religion."
Nowhere is the issue hotter than in Missouri where voters may face a ballot initiative supporting stem cell research, and where Republican Sen. Jim Talent, who is seeking re-election, opposes it.
"Missouri is going to be the petri dish," Duffy said. "This is really the first time that this issue is going before voters as a ballot initiative in a swing state, or a marginally red state. The question is, is it powerful enough to bring Republicans across the aisle?"
Whether the issue has enough political pull to alienate traditionally Republican voters in swing congressional districts, winning Democrats control of the House, remains unclear at this juncture, Duffy said.
Meanwhile, proponents remain hopeful about growing efforts by state governments to keep embryonic stem cell research going, at least for the present. In addition to Schwarzenegger's $150 million loan, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, offered an additional $5 million for research grants in his state following the president's veto, bringing the state total to $15 million. More than 100 bills have been considered over the past two years by dozens of state legislatures, with one, South Dakota, banning such research altogether and five—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey—allocating state resources to the effort.
But while stem cell proponents say they welcome these efforts, the primary goal is to get the research out of the political arena and back into the laboratory. Federal financial support remains the ultimate goal.
"I want scientists in the lab doing science," said Sean Tipton, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a stem cell research advocacy group. "I don't want them trying to figure out where their money is coming from or having to deal with 50 different bureaucracies."