Kaine, Steele spar over abortion and new justice

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine put on his hat as Democratic National Committee chairman to defend the Obama administration in a Sunday-morning square-off with Republican counter part Michael Steele.

During a joint interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Kaine and Steele sparred over whether President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights, should receive an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame, an anti-abortion, Catholic institution, where he spoke yesterday.

"I think a lot of Catholics and a lot of pro-life Americans are very concerned about that, and I think it's inappropriate," said Steele, who is Catholic. "The president should speak, but the degree should not be conferred."

Kaine, also Catholic, said: "I think his career merits" the honorary degree, "and I think most Catholics agree.

"The issue on abortion is really this: . . . Let's reduce unintended pregnancies. Let's reduce abortions. But we don't have to criminalize the choices that women make, or that their doctors make, to do so."

Steele and Kaine also sparred over Obama's comments that he will seek a Supreme Court justice who is empathetic to the real-life implications of the court's decisions.

"I need a judge who is going to take the constitution, apply the facts, apply the law and come to a reasoned, sound judgment," Steele said. "I don't need a judge to look at an African-American standing before him and go off on some liberal tangent like, 'Gee, I wonder what his life was like as a child.'" said Steele, who is black.

Kaine retorted: "Chairman Steele, the 'Party of No' shouldn't now become the 'Party of No Empathy.'"

"Empathy is the ability to understand how an opinion written in a closed chamber actually gets played out in real people's lives. That's what this president wants, and I'm surprised that the other guys would have a problem with that."

Kaine also sparred with Steele over whether during the Bush administration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was fully aware of whether the CIA was using interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, which Obama has deemed to be torture and no longer acceptable.

"I think the real issue is, thank goodness we have a president and a Congress who are stating clearly torture is no longer an instrument of foreign policy in this nation," Kaine said.

At one point Kaine was asked whether Obama was backing off some of his earlier pronouncements on the military, starting with his decision not release photos of the abuse of Iraqi detainees, and why he hadn't yet addressed ending the policy of "don't ask, don't tell," regarding gays in the military.

"He's only been in for three-plus months," Kaine said. "He's had a little bit to deal with."

Regarding the photos, Kaine said Obama concluded that releasing the images "would put American lives at risk."

The Republican chairman, looking to rebuild a party soundly defeated in last fall's elections, said he wants his organization to be inclusive of radio host Rush Limbaugh, former Secretary of State Colin Powell -- and even Tim Kaine.

"He's pro-life, he's pro-business, he's pro-Second Amendment," Steele said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

"My father-in-law was a Republican governor, but I'm a proud Democrat," Kaine said.

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .