With the US election nearing in November, things feel strangely docile compared to the animosity of 2020 and the blockbuster entertainment of 2016.
It all looked set to be another high octane year, with a few short weeks in the summer delivering a car crash tv debate and a one in a trillion fluke preventing the assassination of Donald Trump. Once President Joe Biden dropped from the race, and public life, the prospect of Trump vs Kamala Harris deprived the story of the redemption aspect that it needed from 2020.
The choice of JD Vance as Trump’s Vice President pick has left many uninspired, with his opposite number Tim Walz equally provoking indifference.
In post Roe vs Wade America, prolife politics is struggling to assert itself, with Trump clamouring for their votes while at the same time, appealing to a middle ground that considers the matter to be settled on a federal level.
It is a tough position for the prolife movement to be in, having married themselves to the Republicans for so long, despite receiving little reward as significant as that received from Trump.
Trump’s indifference has created anger in many prolife circles.
One of the USA’s most influential prolife speakers, Lila Rose, has been very forward in opposing this change. She has questioned whether or not prolifers should vote for Trump, though she insists that she would not vote for Harris.
She has referred to Trump/Vance as being a ‘pro abortion ticket’.
The position has been widely criticised, with Lila Rose accused of de facto electing Harris by calling for prolife voters to stay away from Trump.
Meanwhile Trump has come out with a policy that he sees as ‘prolife’, namely the government funding of IVF treatment. IVF is probably acceptable to some in the prolife movement, but it is not acceptable to Catholics.
What is happening here is that an old model of US politics is dying out.
The March for Life mega rallies, the promises of Supreme Court judges, the promises to end abortion, these are all on the way out, at least by the establishment.
If the prolife movement wants leaders it will have to create some,
Better yet, if the Catholic Church wants leaders in the political field, it will have to cultivate them through intentional programmes and mentorship, rather than hoping for a once in a lifetime fluke who happens to do all the right things (for a time). It should also look more closely at accompanying people like Joe Biden and JD Vance, with proper guidance. It is remarkable that a liberal and a conservative Catholic can subscribe to so many positions that are problematic to the faith, with policymaking standing in marked contrast to day to day decisions.
