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When a handful of Republican Senate candidates called for oral contraceptives to be sold without a prescription, Democrats cried foul.

Republicans still want to repeal "Obamacare," they said, and insurers generally don't pay for over-the-counter products. Women would end up paying more for over-the-counter contraceptives than they would under the free, mandatory coverage provided under President Barack Obama's 2010 health law, Democrats said.

The Republican pitch to sell select forms of birth control over the counter is "a cynical attempt to mask their larger efforts," said the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Other critics say Republicans are desperate to narrow the "gender gap," in which women especially young and single women prefer Democratic candidates.

That's the message Democrats are pushing in four states where Republican Senate nominees have endorsed over-the-counter birth control pills: Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia and Minnesota. The stakes are highest in North Carolina and Colorado, where tight races will help decide whether Republicans gain the six new seats they need to control the Senate.

The over-the-counter proposal is something Republicans "are coming up with now to try to take some of the heat off of what they've done," Sen. Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, said in an interview. "I think women are consistently upset about people playing politics with their health care."

Hagan is competing against Republican challenger Thom Tillis, speaker of the state House. Tillis, a steady critic of "Obamacare," surprised Hagan at a recent debate by calling for over-the-counter sales of oral contraceptives.

It would provide "more options for women for contraception," Tillis said.

Hagan and her allies later noted that Tillis has supported the "personhood" initiative, which would give fertilized human eggs the same rights as adults. He says, however, the initiative shouldn't restrict access to contraceptives, and abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest and to save the mother's life.

Democrats also note that Tillis supported the cutoff of state funds to Planned Parenthood, whose clinics provide women's health screenings as well as abortions.

Reproductive rights is also a front-burner issue in Colorado, where first-term Democratic Sen. Mark Udall faces Republican Rep. Cory Gardner. Udall is hammering Gardner for his previous support of a "personhood amendment" to the state constitution.

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Senate Races: Democrats Decry Birth Control Plan

Congressional Democrats are divided over the idea of a debate later this fall on setting the terms of war against the Islamic State -- a debate that would take place despite the unified support of House and Senate leaders for President Obama's initial request for training pro-Western rebels.

Rank-and-file Democrats in the House and Senate say they are looking forward to a broad war powers debate in the lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 midterm elections, echoing similar comments from most Republicans. However, Democratic leaders are divided over that issue, with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) among those counseling patience and, for now, a more narrow debate.

The scope of debate is important because many Democrats supporting the initial authorization request -- approved Wednesday on a bipartisan vote and about to have a similar result Thursday in the Senate -- suggested their yes votes were based on the premise that there would be a bigger debate on the parameters of war later this year.

Some Democrats opposed to deeper military intervention said their colleagues had been duped into believing a big war debate was coming. "That's the illusion," said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), one of 85 House Democrats who opposed the president's request. "This was the vote."

The schism among Democrats became clear at a Thursday press conference of Senate Democratic leaders, during which Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said that a full war debate would take place in the lame-duck session leading to "one of the most important votes we can cast."

"It's long overdue," said Durbin, citing the 2001 and 2002 war authorizations as outdated for today's threats. "We are living on borrowed time and we're traveling on vapors."

Moments later, Reid demurred on how expansive the post-election debate should be. He cited it along with a host of other issues, ranging from allowing states to impose an Internet sales tax to confirming more presidential nominees. We have a lot to do in the lame-duck," Reid said.

Reid noted that the National Defense Authorization Act, which he expects to debate after the election, has language related to Syrian rebels. "It's already in the bill," he told reporters, suggesting a broad debate might not be necessary.

Left unsaid: that language was a small piece of a broad bill that, if enacted, would merely ratify the modest plan to train and arm the pro-Western rebels that Congress is approving this week.

This approach mirrored Pelosi's belief that, under Obama's current war plans, there is no need for a broad debate. "I don't think he needs a bill right now to do what he is doing in the bigger sense," she told reporters Wednesday. "I think he has all of that authority. But there is a threshold that, if it is crossed, Congress will have to act."

Originally posted here:
Democrats divided over broader war debate on Islamic State

Not every Iowa Democrat is cheering for Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president. Some have a gnawing desire for someone else.

Whether that yearning stems from real political differences with Clinton or simply interest in a new face, these Iowans aren't shy about saying so.

"I want to see what others do, like Elizabeth Warren," says Nancy Bobo, one of President Barack Obama's earliest supporters in the state. Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, has said she's not running, but her name comes up nonetheless.

"No one thought there was any room for anyone else in 2008," Bobo says, "and there was."

Bobo was not the only one in the crowd at Sunday's Harkin Steak Fry who wasn't wearing a "Ready for Hillary" sticker. Hundreds of volunteers for a political action committee set up for a potential Clinton candidacy handed out the stickers during retiring Sen. Tom Harkin's farewell event in rural Iowa.

Both Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, spoke at Harkin's fundraiser. Her reception from thousands of Iowa Democratic true believers, though enthusiastic, came with some restraint. There were no chants of "Run, Hillary, run," perhaps reflecting activists' understanding that Clinton represents the party's best chance of winning but might lack the spark for a movement like Obama's candidacy in 2007.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has been the Democrats' busiest potential Clinton alternative. This year, he has come to Iowa three times and contributed $31,500 directly to candidates. He also is the only White House prospect paying staff 11 of them this fall to work on Iowa campaigns.

Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia have headlined Democratic activist events in Iowa and met with candidates and key groups, such as labor unions. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been to Iowa twice since 2013, and plans to headline the state Democratic Party's annual fall fundraiser in October. Liberal independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has visited Iowa and was holding town hall-style meetings in the state the same day Clinton appeared with Harkin.

Warren hasn't visited Iowa but is hosting a fundraiser for Senate candidate Bruce Braley in October.

Vice President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has kept in close touch with Iowans for decades through a pair of campaigns for president, first in the late 1980s and then again 20 years later. Meeting with Democratic candidates in Des Moines was part of his agenda on a trip to the state Wednesday.

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Iowa Democrats Say There's Room for a Non-Clinton

Sweden: Far-right make huge election gains
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Malzberg | John Fund to discuss the "desperation of the Democrats" heading into the midterms
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Malzberg | John Fund to discuss the "desperation of the Democrats" heading into the midterms - Video