Is This Their Issue?
By their own admission, Democrats were having a messaging problem heading into the 2022 elections.
The economy is in deep trouble, inflation is worse than it has been in two generations, Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine with some concerned about U.S. leadership on the issue especially in light of the Afghanistan withdrawal last fall, and so on.
Many thought running against Trump-ism was a winning issue, but that didn’t really work in the limited number of races last year.
But based on a letter sent to House colleagues yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks she has hit upon a winning strategy–abortion.
She wrote, “Republicans have made clear that their goal will be to seek to criminalize abortion nationwide. Republican state legislators across the country are already advancing extreme new laws, seeking to arrest doctors for offering reproductive care, ban abortion entirely with no exceptions, and even charge women with murder who exercise their right to choose. These draconian measures could even criminalize contraceptive care, in vitro fertilization and post-miscarriage care, dragging our nation back to a dark time decades into the past.”
She added, “It is urgent and essential that we remain disciplined and focused in sharing with the American people the dangers of the Republican agenda.”
None of those talking points are new, and you can properly quibble on the accuracy of the points…but it may not matter with voters.
A Reuters story notes that while D.C. Democrats may be focused on abortion…voters in at least one key state are not. The news agency interviewed 21 women in northern suburbs of Phoenix, key in that state’s election for U.S. Senate this year.
Of the 21 women…five said they were pro-life and Republican, while 16 said they were pro-choice. But just two of the 16 said the issue was the top priority for them when voting this November. In fact, half of the 16 were undecided about who to vote for in the Senate race because of concerns about the economy.
Politico shared the Reuters story broadly this morning, and it shows yet again the disconnect between D.C. and the rest of us. Hard to get excited about abortion, apparently, when you’re worried about how to afford food, clothing, and other necessities of life.
