The shooting at Planned Parenthood put GOP 2016 hopefuls in a ‘politically uncomfortable’ position

Robert Lewis Dear taken into custody outside the Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs, Nov. 27, 2015. (Photo: Isaiah J. Downing/Reuters)

The motive for a shooting that took place outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday still isn’t clear, but all three of the top Democratic presidential candidates quickly rushed to express their support for the organization. Meanwhile, the leading Republicans, all of whom have spoken out against Planned Parenthood, have largely remained silent about the shooting.Operatives from both parties suggested to Yahoo News that the incident puts the GOP field in a tough spot because of its opposition to Planned Parenthood. The organization is thecountry’s largest provider of abortions.Three people were killed in the shooting. One of the victims was a police officer who responded to a call for help. The suspect has been identified as Robert Lewis Dear, who was reportedly captured on the scene in Colorado Springs aftersurrendering to law enforcement. According to the Associated Press, Dear had spent part of his time living in a North Carolina shack, and his neighbors described him as an incoherent loner with no known political or religious leanings. However, John Suthers, the Republican mayor of Colorado Springs, suggested people could draw conclusions about a motive for the attack by drawing “inferences from where it took place.”President Obama issued a statement on the shooting Saturday that did not address the question of opposition to abortion as a potential motive. Instead, the president suggested that the incident is further proof of the need for stronger gun control.“We don’t yet know what this particular gunman’s so-called motive was for shooting 12 people, or for terrorizing an entire community, when he opened fire with an assault weapon and took hostages at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado. What we do know is that he killed a cop in the line of duty, along with two of the citizens that police officer was trying to protect,” Obama said, adding, “This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal.”