By Dave Andrusko
Over the next couple of days, National Right to Life will be writing to our many gallant supporters to remind you why this Movement has grown in size and influence even in the face of the kind of brutally disappointing results we experienced Tuesday night.
President Obama carried the day, plain and simple. Equally obvious is that he is a far superior campaigner than he is a President.
He prevailed by adroit use of the oldest tactic in politics, the life jacket vulnerable incumbents always strap on to avoid an electoral drowning. And that is to turn attention away from your own dismal record by convincing the electorate your opponent is an awful human being not deserving of election.
That this bore not the slightest resemblance to kind and decent man that is Mitt Romney gave Obama’s re-election team not a moment’s hesitation. They wanted to win and would do anything, say anything, to prevail. It is no exaggeration to say that the President burned every bridge in the manner in which he won a second term.
In the light of this great disappointment, as a supporter of National Right to Life and a pro-life person, you can rest assured of many truths but two in particular.
First, we do not have virtually limitless resources, unlike our pro-abortion adversaries. But NRLC made maximum use of every nickel of your contributions.
We would have liked to have made gains in the United States Senate, but the situation remains that the Senate is in the hands of pro-abortionists.
But after Tuesday, due in great part to your efforts, the House of Representatives remains firmly pro-life. Its pro-life leadership is dedicated to advancing the cause of unborn babies and, where possible, thwarting pro-abortion initiatives. That bulwark will be crucial in the years to come.
You should know what we did, because you made it all possible. We distributed millions and millions of educational flyers—5.7 million to be precise. Your support enabled us to run 50,000 radio ads! But radio is only one example of a wide variety of campaign techniques. There were also approximately ten million mailings, literature drops, phone calls, emails and many other ways we used this year to inform voters about which candidates were pro-life.
We spent your donation money wisely to defend the unborn! We can honestly say we did everything we could to elect Mitt Romney. We thank you for your generosity, your faithfulness, and your support of unborn babies
The other truth, the other given, the other constant is that while we lost this battle, the fight goes on. No pro-lifer would minimize the significance of this lost opportunity. Replacing pro-abortion President Barack Obama with pro-life Mitt Romney was National Right to Life’s #1 goal for this election season.
During the course of mounting a valiant effort to elect pro-lifers, beginning with the Romney/Ryan team, the Pro-Life Movement that is responsible for reducing the number of annual abortions from 1.6 million to 1.2 million grew in size and sophistication. We will pause to catch our breath and come back more determined, more focused, more united than ever.
There is no “quit” in the millions of Americans who make up the great movement for social justice of our time. The word is not in our vocabulary, giving up is not in our DNA.
We bounced back when Bill Clinton won a second term. We will retool and come back stronger than ever now that Barack Obama has secured a second term. You can count on that, just as we count on you to help us save every life we possibly can!
While the presidency remains in the hands of Barack Obama, there are other more important factors which have also not changed.
Our mission has not changed. These defenseless babies have not changed. These little ones are dying and we cannot, will not rest until our nation returns legal protection to the unborn.
What has not changed is that you and NRLC are the voice for the voiceless.
What has not changed is if not us, who?