Richard Cohen today has an interesting piece about abortion and the Democrats. All of a sudden, dissident rumblings are emerging about the unfair treatment that pro-life Democrats have received over the years. Question: Would these rumblings ever have surfaced if the Democrats had not lost the presidential election? I wonder . . . too bad we can't ask Governor Richard Casey what he thinks (that's the pro-life Democratic governor who was barred from speaking at the oh-so-inclusive Dem convention years ago because of his views).

But Cohen is clearly on to something when he notes that the country's zeitgeist on the life issue has clearly shifted. It's interesting -- once upon a time, politicians including Jesse Jackson and Richard Gephardt were pro-life. Then they became pro-choice by perceived necessity, in order to further their national ambitions (look where that sacrifice of principle got them, one might note . . .). We'll know the Democrat Party is shifting when "old time"-type Democratic politicians in the Gephardt mode judge that they are "able" to remain pro-life and hold presidential aspirations at the same time.