Chewing over the Ames Straw Poll winners and losers. A profile of presidential hopeful, Texas Governor Rick Perry. New study finds increased risk of autism among siblings. Do SlutWalks make us think differently about sluts or sexual assault? Boy or girl? Early gender determination raises ethical questions and the latest news.
Chewing over the Ames Straw Poll winners and losers
The results are in: Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the winner of Saturday’s Iowa straw poll with more than 4800 votes. “This is the very first step toward taking the White House in 2012,” Bachmann said, “and you have just sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president.” The test vote isn’t necessarily indicative of who will win next year’s Iowa caucuses or ultimately be the GOP nominee. But the closely watched contest did deal a blow to third-place finisher Tim Pawlenty, who pulled out of the race yesterday. Texas Congressman Ron Paul came in second, just 152 votes behind Bachmann. Rich Santorum and Herman Cain rounded out fourth and fifth places. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, long considered the national front runner, didn’t campaign in the poll. On Sunday, Texas Governor Rick Perry upstaged all the GOP contenders, announcing his candidacy at the Black Hawk County GOP's Lincoln Day dinner in Waterloo. Politicos say the GOP presidential contest is now a three-way race between Bachmann, Perry and Romney. In all, 16,892 voters cast their straw poll ballot on the campus of Iowa State University. How exactly does this Iowa tradition work? How significant are the results? And given the peculiarity of its structure, why do donors give it so much weight?
Guests:
Jonathan Wilcox, Republican Strategist; former speech writer for Governor Pete Wilson
Chris Lehane, Democratic Political Consultant and Partner in the strategic communications firm Fabiani & Lehane
President Goodhair?
Conspicuously absent from the Ames Straw Poll was Texas Governor Rick Perry. The sharp looker nicknamed Governor Goodhair was keeping busy though, making his big announcement in South Carolina. After months of rumors, Perry declared his run to be the Republican Party's candidate for president. The four-term governor is seen as a formidable threat to those leaders of the straw poll. He has significant backing from the GOP establishment and the Tea Party. It's reckoned he could raise a lot of funding to take on President Obama. So it's a good time to learn more about Perry. For instance, did you know he started his political career in Texas as a Democrat? He also had a contentious relationship with George W. Bush. What’s the story there? What's Perry’s track record? Who is in his corner and who wants to knock him out? Who is Rick Perry? And why does he want to be your president?
Guest:
Paul Burka, Senior Executive Editor, Texas Monthly
Robert Stein, Professor of Political Science, Rice University and Fellow in Urban Politics, James Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
New autism study
A new study published today in the journal “Pediatrics” confirmed that the risks of having an autistic child go up to 19% if parents already have a child with autism. Until now, parents of autistic children thought it they only had a 3%-10% chance to have another child with the condition. This new study was based on 644 infants from Canada and the US and the results may be related to the bigger sample size and a wider definition of autism. This new data is bound to worry parents of autistic children who plan to have a second or third child as the numbers go way up (32%) if there is more than one autistic child in the family. Specialists are trying to reassure parents by reminding them that statistics vary from family to family and that only 15% of autism is related to a specific genetic mutation. How will this new study affect the families of autistic children? If you have an autistic child, does this new information change your plans to have additional children?
Do SlutWalks make us think differently about sluts or sexual assault?
In April, when women in Toronto took exception to a police officer who said, "Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized" the SlutWalk was born. Women descended into the streets marching in attire sometimes described as “slutty” and protested cultural attitudes linking violence against women with the way they dress. The SlutWalk caught on and women in cities throughout Canada, the US, India, and Europe are organizing marches to reclaim a loaded word like “slut,” pairing a strong message against sexual violence and societal attitudes with provocative clothing. In early June, West Hollywood was home to L.A.’s first SlutWalk. The event focused on putting a stop to “victim-blaming in situations of sexual violence.” But these gatherings have provoked mixed feelings from feminists and others. For some, the very attempt to redefine the word slut is useless and unrealistic. They say that it’s wrong headed to conflate linguistic definitions with a very potent message about violence against women. What does the SlutWalk movement mean to you? Do you think these marches are a smart way to highlight the movement’s message? Does dressing “slutty” make women more prone to assault and if so, what should be done about that?
Guest:
Lindsey Horvath, President Emeritus of Hollywood NOW (National Organization for Women), Equality Advocate, Community Organizer, Former Councilmember, City of West Hollywood
Boy or girl? Early gender determination raises ethical questions
Typically, parents learn the sex of their baby from an ultrasound technician, at around 20 weeks. But a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that a simple blood test of the mother’s blood can determine the gender of a fetus as early as seven weeks, with 95 percent accuracy. That’s great news for couples who are deciding between pink and blue for the nursery walls. And even better for those whose offspring might be at risk for gender-specific genetic diseases, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy or Rett’s syndrome. Knowing the baby’s sex sooner, rather than later, could cut down on the need for expensive, invasive prenatal testing. The test, which has been in use by medical professionals for years in Europe, is only available to parents online here in the states through private companies. But while early gender determination could be a boon to the medical community, some experts worry that the knowledge could lead couples to pre-select their baby’s gender by aborting a fetus of the unwanted sex. Could more accurate and affordable gender determination reshape the abortion debate? Do the medical benefits outweigh the ethical questions raised? Given a choice, would you want to know your baby’s sex as early as possible – and why?
Guest:
Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania