You must have blocked out what happened in the last midterm. Let me remind you dummy.
On Election Day, voters in critical states like Michigan and Pennsylvania ranked abortion — not inflation or crime — as the most important issue in the midterms,
according to exit polls. The red wave never arrived. Instead, Democrats gained a seat in the Senate and Republicans, badly underperforming expectations, barely took back the House. Democrats also held onto a slew of governor’s mansions, from Wisconsin to Oregon, that otherwise may have slipped out of reach, and won control of four legislative chambers. Republicans failed to flip a single one.
The Supreme Court decision that ended a nearly half-century of federal abortion rights triggered a fierce backlash against the Republican Party from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the plains of Kansas. It mobilized the liberal base, enabled Democrats to effectively paint GOP candidates as too extreme among independents, and even turned off some Republican women — something that some party officials even saw happen within their own families.
And unlike the Republican Party’s other headaches this cycle — money woes, flawed candidates, and even Trump —
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization cannot be undone anytime soon. Democratic and Republican operatives said that means abortion is poised to play as big a role, if not bigger, in upcoming elections, triggering a dramatic shift in political strategy as liberal groups target more states for abortion-related ballot initiatives.
“Abortion access is a core value that hits you in your gut,” said Stephanie Schriock, the former president of EMILY’s List. “It is going to be a huge part of every election going forward until we get this right back.”
The National Republican Congressional Campaign
also advised candidates and campaign operatives “to ignore it,” said one consultant who works on House races. “That was their mantra.”
