Washington Post [5] columnist Eugene Robinson says the fact that abortion is at the forefront of the political conversation this week could be as surprising to Republicans as the hurricane that's interfering with their convention's schedule.

The uninvited participation of a hurricane at next week's Republican convention would be superfluous. Buffeted by powerful internal winds, the party may be flooded with cash, but it's already kind of a debris-strewn mess.

Who would have imagined that Topic A, in the days before GOP delegates gather in Tampa, would be abortion? Certainly the thought never crossed the minds of the convention planners who intended this four-day infomercial to be a nonstop indictment of President Obama's performance on the economy. But the old line about the relationship between the political parties and their candidates -- "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line" -- is so last century.

Party leaders will blame Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) for airing his appalling views about "legitimate rape." But if you discount Akin's bizarre notions about female reproduction, he was only stating official Republican policy on abortion as laid out in the platform that delegates will be asked to approve Monday: "The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed."

Read Eugene Robinson's entire piece at the Washington Post. [6]

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