Politico: "Planned Parenthood gears up for 2016 offensive" me: "by shooting itself in the foot"

[Attorney in Texas]

link to the Politico article; excerpt:

Planned Parenthood, facing attacks from conservatives in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, is ramping up its election-year political efforts in key battleground states, adding senior staff and preparing to spend more than $20 million. ... The moves follow a months-long campaign by conservatives to vilify the group over videos of Planned Parenthood executives allegedly discussing fetal tissue sales and activity at the state level to try and cut off Medicaid reimbursements to the organization.

On Wednesday, House Republicans kicked off the 2016 legislative session with a vote to strip federal funding for the group. Though President Barack Obama has said he will veto the bill, it shows Republicans are willing to engage on abortion after several Senate candidates stumbled in recent elections when talking about women's health, and a GOP pledge after the 2012 election to avoid antagonizing female voters.

This is an important issue.

On the eve of this battle, Planned Parenthood made a decision that ruins a 100-year policy of not endorsing candidates in primary elections:

The endorsement marks the first time in the organization's 100-year history that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed a candidate in a primary.

This unprecedented endorsement has broken the heart and trust of countless (now former) Planned Parenthood supporters:

I'm just astonished at your endorsement of Hillary Clinton! You no longer have my monthly donation. You have been purchased by the Clintons.
...
I love and support Planned Parenthood full-heartedly, but I do not support or cosign your endorsement of Hillary Clinton. I won't say that Hillary hasn't made a lot of efforts and improvements in the realm of reproductive rights, but I will say that as a queer, atheist, working class, college student, she does not support me in any other way. She did not support gay marriage or equal rights until it was politically beneficial to her to do so. She pandors to big businesses and... See More
...
My "Shower Thought" for today regarding the public backlash of Planned Parenthood Action breaking their 100 year tradition of not endorsing a presidential candidate by endorsing Hillary Clinton. (If you want to see the responses click the link above):
I think for many women (and men), Planned Parenthood has long been a safe haven during sensitive and/or difficult situations. People go to them for family planning and health services. Condoms. STD screenings. Abortions. Birth control pills. Pregnancy. Etc. For many, Planned Parenthood has been a major part of their lives.
And let's face it, not everyone is happy about that. Planned Parenthood is always under attack, often by white Republican men in suits telling women (and men) what's best for them.
So now, instead of white Republican men in suits telling them what's best for them, it's Planned Parenthood itself. "Dear little lady, Hillary Clinton is what you need." As if women aren't capable of coming to their choice for president themselves (even if it IS Hillary). And the reasons Planned Parenthood gives only focus on women's health issues, nothing else, as if people only vote on that one issue alone. People are smarter than that.
My take is that a lot of the emotional backlash is in having an organization that used to be many people's "safe space" be the place that turns on them and tells them what's best for them. It brings up way too many issues.
...
PP you should've never endorsed a candidate before the Primary elections. All you did was piss off a lot of your donors. Bad move.
...
Hillary is a life time supporter of Monsanto one of her major contributers who manufactueres glyppsophate a toxin which has fully saturated the fiber markets. They are present in every box of feminnine hygene products you buy increasing exponentially the gynocological cancers. They've denied for years but the U.N and a French court have found this true that Monsanto has soaked the Americans in carcinogens. Think of Hillary every time you get a pap, she took money for your right to be toxified. I won't ever vote for her nor support PP again.

On what planet is it a good idea to begin this important fight by dividing your base by making an unprecedented primary endorsement that alienates a huge portion of (now former) supporters?

We ALL support Planned Parenthood's goals. For the sake of Planned Parenthood's continued well being, it needs to walk back this shockingly bad judgment.

I will continue to support Planned Parenthood and its goals, but I cannot do so in the same way that I used support those goals. At a time when Planned Parenthood is under attack by the far right, it should not have broken a 100 year old policy to pick a fight with those who supported Planned Parenthood for years right up until this week.

Those of us who value Planned Parenthood and who have tirelessly defended Planned Parenthood against unfair attacks should be united in telling Planned Parenthood that now is the time to unite your allies and fight our common foe, and it is not a time to push away those of us who wholeheartedly supported Planned Parenthood for decades until this week but who must now put a big asterisk mark on any continued support.

[99Forever]

1. Too late AiT.

The damage is done and won't be "walked back." Another unforced error, thinking nepotism wouldn't be noticed.

[Attorney in Texas]

6. It's probably too late but I hate to see Planned Parenthood become the ACORN of 2016.

Planned parenthood has been the victim of a false attack.

Now, when Planned Parenthood is at its most vulnerable, it makes a mistake that is -- ironically -- parallel to near fatal error made by Susan G. Komen for the Cure (adopting a political view that is contrary to lots of its base supporters).

How can Planned Parenthood have made such a mistake?

It reminds me of ACORN, which was the victim of a similar false attack, and it failed to unite its allies and then died a slow death of falling financial support.

This seems like deja vu all over again.

[99Forever]

13. "How can Planned Parenthood have made such a mistake?"

People in positions of power tend to be tone deaf, become arrogant and believe their own press. They are wrong, almost always.

[PotatoChip]

15. And unlike Bernie who unequivocally defended PP after the anti-choice smear video,

Hillary tells the New Hampshire Union Leader that the "disturbing" video "raises questions". She knew (or should have known) that the video was an O'Keefe style attack, yet instead of saying so, treated it as if it legitimately deserved scrutiny.

I don't understand how PP can even support, let alone endorse her after that. Wtf?

In one-on-one interview, Clinton talks issues, calls Planned Parenthood videos 'disturbing'
By DAN TUOHY
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 28. 2015 8:52PM

Calling them “disturbing,” Hillary Clinton said undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue raise questions about the process nationwide.

“I have seen pictures from them and I obviously find them disturbing” the Democratic presidential hopeful said during a sit-down interview Tuesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader.

“Planned Parenthood is answering questions and will continue to answer questions. I think there are two points to make,” Clinton said. “One, Planned Parenthood for more than a century has done a lot of really good work for women: cancer screenings, family planning, all kinds of health services. And this raises not questions about Planned Parenthood so much as it raises questions about the whole process, that is, not just involving Planned Parenthood, but many institutions in our country.”

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150729/NEWS0605/150729073&template=mobileart

[99Forever]

22. I understand how.

It's what cronies do. They use their positions to feather their own nests, then pretend to be all "outraged" when they get busted doing it. Part and parcel to being tone deaf.

[murielm99]

2. "Countless" PP supporters?

I doubt it.

Most of us who contribute will continue to do so. The tempest in a teapot being created by the Bernie supporters is another meaningless Internet war.

[roguevalley]

4. tempest. pp is completely assinine to do this right now. If they had endorse Bernie your

hair would be on fire.

[Punkingal]

9. LOL...

[rhett o rick]

5. Some HRC supporters don't agree with you. They are all up in arms.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=988839

Who is creating the "tempest in a teapot".

For some strange reason, PP, for the first time in their history, decided to endorse a candidate. With all three Democrats very strong supporters of PP, why did they choose one? Why did they risk the blowback and there will be blowback? They put politics before women's health. Their leadership should be fired.

[Blue_Adept]

7. Yeah, but for 15 years DU has not reflected reality. So that doesn't say much.

We've got our own bubble/echo chamber here, one that's been particularly refined in the last couple of years with a lot of member-group purges.

[senz]

24. The angry PP supporters are on Facebook, not DU

https://www.facebook.com/PlannedParenthoodAction/posts_to_page/

[hobbit709]

14. you survived the alert brigade.

On Sat Jan 9, 2016, 03:43 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Some HRC supporters don't agree with you. They are all up in arms.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=989055

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This is calling out a poster for their hidden post, and is not cool. This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Jan 9, 2016, 03:49 PM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Agree. Hide.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Another idiotic alert
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I disagree with the alerter.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

[rhett o rick]

20. In lieu of actually engaging in the discussion and refuting what is said, they try to

silence by alerting and hiding posts they don't agree with.

[Sheepshank]

19. Tempest in a teapot?

Famous words of a DU Sanders supporter who decided this was a good thing to post in HRC protected group:

On second thought I take that big FUCK YOU back. I wouldn't fuck you even with someone else's dog's cock. You have proven yourself to be utterly and irretrievably morally repugnant. You have stooped to depths that are lower than whale shit in the fucking Marianas trench. There's a lot of pressure down there for anyone with a shred of fucking decency but once your balls are shriveled to the obvious pinhead size it affects the brain and there's little left than to attempt to smear the shit on the walls when it didn't stick whilst you were flinging it.

I have been told this is also a tempest in a teapot.

[Attorney in Texas]

8. Did you go to the link to Planned Parenthood's facebook page? This was not a small error.

[leftofcool]

10. Are the Bernie Face Book Warriors out in full force?

Predictable

[Attorney in Texas]

11. We stood by Planned Parenthood in its dispute with Komen for the Cure. Despite the fact that Komen

for the Cure was doing good work for a cause we believe in, we had to walk away from that organization because of its political mismanagement but we did not stop supporting its goals.

I don't want to see Planned parenthood place itself in the same position that Komen for the Cure occupied.

[rhett o rick]

3. All three major Democratic candidates strongly support PP, so why would they chose now to

for the first time in their history, endorse one of the Democrats OVER THE OTHER TWO. It will obviously have a backlash that they should have been able to predict. So why did they do it? Was money involved? Did the Clinton campaign put undo pressure on them? I think it represents the corruption that we are fighting so hard to eliminate.

I volunteer as an escourt for the local chapter, and will continue to do so, in addition to donating, but I will work hard to see that this leadership that sold their souls for something, gets replaced.

[MerryBlooms]

12. I'm not against PP endorsing a candidate, but they should have waited until after the primary.

I won't let my disagreement with them change my support for their valuable work providing healthcare to women.

[Metric System]

16. Typical behavior - cutting off the nose to spite the face.

[senz]

25. Yes, PP shouldn't cut off the noses of a huge block of their supporters.

[Sheepshank]

17. Anti PP posts...the Republican machine thanks you. Nt

[Attorney in Texas]

18. the Republican machine thanks PP PAC. Nt {fixed it for you}

[Sheepshank]

21. Yeah...you feed them constantly

PP knows which candidate has the track record of bringing bills related to women's issue to the floor. They know which candidate will actually fight the Republican machine effectively on their behalf. Bernie may lift his arm to the square to vote, but has some nothing else for women's issues. That you can't or won't see that says so much about you ability to cast your pearls before the Republicans. You have done more for the Republican machine while here on du than Rove could ever have hoped.

[rhett o rick]

23. The Republican machine thanks this divisive move by PP. They chose to take sides.

I wonder who encouraged them to do that. This is the political corruption we are facing. We need change.