Book Authors: Stem Cell Research Is Winning Mainstream Issue in 2006 Voting
*** 2006 Election Vote Analysis ***
Impact Assessed in 25 Races, Ballot Measures by Authors of Forthcoming
'Stem Cell Research: Promise and Politics'
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Stem cell research was a big winner
in the 2006 mid-term election, according to an analysis of 25 races and
ballot measures by Pam Solo and Gail Pressberg, authors of the
soon-to-be-released "Stem Cell Research: Promise and Politics" (Praeger
Publishers, 2006). The book will be shipped to bookstores nationwide on
December 4, 2006. In a statement issued this morning, Solo and Pressberg
said:
"Support for stem cell research played a prominent role in several key
U.S. House, Senate and gubernatorial races, as well the closely watched
constitutional amendment in Missouri. This is a health issue and people
supported candidates of both parties who are either new to the issue or are
'tried and true,' such as Republican Congressman Mike Castle in Delaware.
The power of politics from below and the role patients have played in
keeping this issue at the forefront of the national agenda was reinforced
again in this election.
In our overnight analysis of the outcome of 25 separate votes yesterday
across America, we identified the following trends:
* Missouri was the bellwether state in terms of stem cell research, with
both a hotly contested U.S. Senate race and a constitutional amendment
up for grabs. The support of Missouri's middle America voters for stem
cell research was evident in the outcome: Democrat challenger Clare
McCaskill defeated incumbent Jim Talent, and Amendment 2 won on a 51-49
percent vote.
* At least four out of six Senate candidates who campaigned prominently in
support of stem cell research were victorious: Ben Cardin (Maryland),
Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Bob Menendez (New Jersey) and Sherrod Brown
(Ohio). Two other U.S. Senate races where stem cells figured in a major
way remain undecided as of this morning: Montana and Virginia. In both
cases, the Democrat challenger who actively campaigned in support of
stem cell research leads in the unofficial vote counts.
* Of the three gubernatorial races we identified, all three stem cell
research supporters won -- Jim Doyle in Wisconsin, Chet Culver in Iowa,
and Jan Granholm in Michigan. Of particular interest here is Wisconsin,
where Jim Doyle made stem cell research a centerpiece of his campaign.
He won re-election by a 53-45 margin.
* We also identified 15 House races where the issue of stem cell research
played a prominent role. In seven of those races -- Democrat Harry
Mitchell in AZ 05, Democrat Jerry McNerney in CA 11, Democrat Bruce
Braley in IA 01, Democrat Mike Arcuri in NY 24, Democrat Joe Sestak in
PA 07, and Democrat Steve Kagen in WI 08 -- the Democrat challenger
supporting stem cell research won. In four races, the Democrat who
campaigned in support of stem cell research lost - Tammy Duckworth in IL
06, Linda Stern in NJ 07, Dan Maffei in NY 25, and Eric Massa in NY 29.
Four races have not been officially called involving the following
candidates who focused on stem cell research -- NM 01 (Democrat Patricia
Madrid), OH 15 (Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy), PA 08 (Democrat Patrick
Murphy), and WA 08 (Democrat Darcy Burner).
What is the message here? There is a growing and grassroots demand for
action at the federal level on stem cell research. This is a core lesson of
the 2006 mid-term election: People want this research to go forward and
politicians will be rewarded for taking a clear and unambiguous stand on
the issue. This reflects the fact that stem cell research is not a 'right'
or 'left' issue -- it is something that mainstream America wants to see
happen."
As the forthcoming book "Stem Cell Research: Promise and Politics"
notes: "Ever since President George W. Bush limited federal funding for
stem cell research, the topic has been top of mind for many, including the
organized patient population representing every major disease now
afflicting approximately 100 million Americans ... How did scientific and
medical research on something smaller than a period at the end of a
sentence come to such prominence in American political life? ... Few areas
of public policy have such far-reaching implications. This fact alone
accounts for the remarkable level of information and sophistication by the
broad general public."
In the book, Solo and Pressberg explain how the campaign for stem cell
research was built in a bipartisan way across party lines. "Confounding the
traditional polarized politics of the country previously dominated by anti-
abortion and pro-choice politics, the politics of stem cell research may be
redrawing the contours of public life. New political partnerships have been
formed across party and ideological lines. Unusual and remarkable
collaborations between scientists and patients have created a deeply
informed constituency as advocates for the research. Rarely has a so-called
cultural or value issue broken through the reflexive ideologies of left and
right, conservative and liberal, as has the politics of stem cell
research."
As Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD, MBA, Vice President and Chief Scientific
Officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, notes
of the new book: "From its inception the debate about support for stem cell
research has been a mixture of science and politics. Solo and Pressberg
make an eloquent case that the discussion should not be left either to
scientists or politicians alone but rather should include a vocal and
informed public -- after all, the public has the largest stake in the
outcome of this debate. They have defined a new role for public opinion --
active, intelligent, and outspoken-- and significantly raise the bar and
define the potential role for public advocacy in future debates about other
complex issues."
"'Stem Cell Research: Promise and Politics' makes it clear that the
promise of stem cell treatment lies not in the halls of politics, but in
the hearts of people," said Patti Davis, the author of "The Long Goodbye,"
a book about her father's struggle with Alzheimer's disease and the care
that her mother, Nancy Reagan, provided. "No government can stand in the
way of hope."
