Is the Contraception Controversy a Political Election Ploy?

The Washington Post suggests that perhaps it is:

Arron Blake offers this tidbit:

The White House’s decision to force Catholic hospitals to dispense emergency contraception was a hot topic at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

And that’s probably AOK with the Obama campaign.

For a White House that has often been accused of trying to undermine Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race, the contraception debate is perhaps its happiest accident in that quest.

After all, while the issue hasn’t exactly been fun to deal with for the White House, what better way to help a social conservative like Rick Santorum in his quest to bring down Romney?

Interesting take. I think I agree with him. Perhaps this is strategy. Now the accommodation will come to make the President look like “the bigger person” as well. Santorum has no chance of winning but will certainly be more attractive to social conservatives than Mitt Romney, who is both a Mormon (conservative evangelicals don’t even consider that a religion) and a social moderate, while Santorum is a hardliner.

Oh and here’s this little item:

During a press conference Wednesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney compared the Obama administration’s policy on emergency contraception at Catholic hospitals to the policy under Romney in Massachusetts.

“This is, I think, ironic, the fact that Mitt Romney is expressing — criticizing the president for pursuing a policy that is virtually identical to the one that was in place when he was governor of Massachusetts,” Carney said.

Does this distract the GOP a bit more and delay them getting their act together and naming a candidate to defeat President Obama? I think so and it’s already pretty late in the day for the Republicans to not have a candidate.

And for President Obama’s Administration–that suits them just fine.