Barack Obama Will Use Contraception Battle to His Full Advantage to Win in 2012

Impact

A lot of political pundits out there are claiming that President Barack Obama has made a huge mistake with the announcement that all businesses must provide contraception coverage in their healthc are plans, including church-backed schools and hospitals. They will tell you that Obama has nothing to gain by this and that it was a political blunder. Columnist Peggy Noonan even said this might cost Obama the presidency in November. What if this wasn’t a mistake? What if this is exactly what Obama wanted?

Why would Obama want this? Look at his reelection campaign and what he is focusing on. His focus for reelection is the economy and job creation and creating a fairer tax code where richer people pay their "fair share." He is targeting Congress as the reason why he hasn’t been as successful as he wants to be, claiming they are wasting time and not passing legislation that matters.

Now look at what the contraception mandate by the Health and Human Services (HHS) has done. Catholic priests along with almost every Republican in Washington are up in arms over contraception. Not the economy, not job creation, and not the tax code. Congress is vowing to pass legislation countermanding this new mandate.

In one fell swoop Obama has managed to tie Congress up, likely for months, over a fight that the majority of Americans could care less about. Even more so, most Americans actually back the mandate. This is fuel on the fire for Obama’s argument. Obama will say that Congress is wasting its time on things that don’t matter, while he is fighting for the average American and he will be right.

Take a look at another outcome of this. Now social conservatives seem to be rallying around Rick Santorum who won big in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. Santorum has always been the "values candidate" so this naturally plays much better towards his campaign. Again, was this by design?

Polling is clear, Romney stands the best chance to defeat Obama in November. So it would make logical sense for Obama to try to get another candidate in as the nominee to run against him. The contraception mandate has allowed Santorum to gain some steam and could make him the nominee (though I still believe this is a long shot). I am sure that would make Obama happy, because Santorum stands no chance at getting the youth vote or independents on his side because of his theocratic stance on social issues.

Don’t believe what you are hearing in the news. The contraception mandate by the HHS is not a straight loser for Obama. The average American not only doesn’t care about it, they agree that contraception should be included in health care plans. Americans also agree that the most pressing issue right now isn’t about contraception or religious freedom, it is about jobs and the economy. Obama has hoodwinked everyone and they don’t even realize it.

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