U.S. Rep. and governor hopeful Mark Green, R-Green Bay, announced a plan to invest $25 million of state funds into new human embryonic stem cell research that would not destroy embryos. This controversial announcement has stem cell champion and Green's opponent, Gov. Jim Doyle, skeptical of Green's motivations.
Anne Lupardus, deputy spokesperson for the Doyle campaign said though Green said he would support stem cell research as the governor his previous actions have suggested otherwise.
""Mark Green has voted against federal funding for stem cell research, voted to criminalize some of the most promising research techniques, and like President Bush—likens it to murder. This is not someone that supports stem cell research no matter how much election year double-talk he engages in.""
While Green's funding would only go to research in which embryonic cells weren't destroyed, Wisconsin Right to Life legislative director, Susan Armacost, current embryonic stem cell research has not been conducted without the eventual destroying of human embryos. She does, however, applaud Green for his interest in funding a technology that could help this technology to be developed in the future.
Though Democrats have typically championed stem cells as one of their core principals, UW- Madison political science professor David Canon said Green's announcement illustrates a new dilemma facing the Republican party—party members who are willing to compromise on issues such as stem cell research in order to win elections.
""I think clearly this is a move by Mark Green to try to reach more moderate, centrist voters on this issue,"" Canon said. ""I think the majority of the opinion in the United States support research in this area.""
Canon said while a core group of Republicans will always take a conservative stance on this issue, more moderate Republicans are shifting their ideals.
UW-Madison journalism and mass communication professor Dietram Scheufele also made this observation and said a Badger Poll recently conducted in Wisconsin showed a strong majority of respondents identifying themselves as Republicans in favor of stem cell research.
Up until now, Scheufele said public support for stem cell research was not based on scientific information but rather the way both the Democratic and Republican parties have framed the issue.
""On the left of the political spectrum the frame being used is really very much about being able to cure diseases ... which a lot of people can emotionally relate to,"" said Scheufele. ""On the conservative side, the frame is very much religious and plays to peoples' firmly held beliefs about unborn life. What you see is most messages are really not about content, but about framing the issue in a way that plays to peoples' underlying emotions.""
Though Scheufele and Canon confirmed that Green's support for research is not an uncommon stance for more progressive Republicans to take, Lupardus claims the motivation behind the funds is not to cure diseases but to trick voters at the polls.
""After realizing that the majority of the Wisconsinites support stem cell research, Congressman Mark Green has spent months trying to trick voters into thinking he supports it too—when in reality, if he had his way, he'd shut it down,""he said.
