If you’d like to see a pro-choice candidate run for Max Cleland’s old seat in the Senate you should take a look at Dr. Rand Knight. You can visit his campaign site here. In the primary he will be competing against Vernon Jones, who voted for George W. Bush in 2004, and Dale Cardwell, who takes an extremely hard line on illegal immigration.
Jones and Cardwell say nothing about women’s rights on their websites. This is what Dr. Knight says:
I believe in a woman’s right to choose, plain and simple. It’s not my body and it’s not my business. A woman knows what is best for her and what she can handle bringing into this world. I am in no better place to tell her otherwise. Even though I have serious personal reservations about operating on a woman in the third trimester of pregnancy, I am still squarely against the Supreme Court’s April 2007 decision that failed to recognize the importance of women’s health. As a U.S. Senator I will continue to provide funding to expand access to family planning services; I will fight Republican efforts to restrict the protections of Roe vs. Wade; and I will never forget the terrifying pain and emotional suffering that women once endured when there were no laws, medical or financial resources or loved ones there to help and protect them.
Dr. Knight is not a medical doctor. He has a doctorate in Ecosystems Analysis from the University of Washington. How would you like to have a senator trained in ecology? Vernon Jones is a former tel-comm executive. Cardwell was a muckraking television journalist.
A proud progressive can win anywhere, even in Georgia. But he is going to need our support.
Oh…and what does Dr. Knight think about Iraq?
Unless our homeland is imminently threatened, we have no business using military force to control other countries while the people of the United States are left exposed to attack on our own shores. Our current leadership speaks stridently to the rest of the world about how things should be done democratically, diplomatically and with all parties at the table; however, our actions scream louder than our words, and the world no longer trusts us. We must begin demonstrating to the global audience through our actions and behavior that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and start the process of earning back the respect of those who once trusted and looked up to us…
Our involvement in the Iraq war needs to come to a close. We need a specific timeline and benchmarks for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, and the process needs to be honorable and secure.
Give Dr. Knight a look.
