US Democrats cling to abortion rights as a chance to claw back votes
“This fall, Roe is on the ballot,” said Joe Biden, addressing his base in the wake of the landmark decision to repeal federal protections for abortions. “Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty, equality, they’re all on the ballot.”
Calling it a “sad day for the Court and for the country,” Biden is hoping to flip a light switch in the heads of every liberal voter and motivate turnout among those disenchanted by his administration’s failures and the shortcomings of every Democrat floundering against a resurgent conservative movement.
Following the repeal of Roe v. Wade on Friday, Democrats are hoping to tap into the anger of their voting base to direct their ire against the Republicans – and away from the failures of their own policies.
They’re blaming Donald Trump, the man responsible for appointing the three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who flipped the balance of power on the judiciary. They’re blaming Justice Clarence Thomas, calling him an 'Uncle Tom,' thus allowing their unvarnished racism to seep through the cracks of their virtuous façade. They’re blaming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for firing up conservatives to fight back against woke ideology.
Some are even blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin needs Americans to be divided and too caught up with our own politics so he can continue his march into Ukraine then into Poland and beyond. He knows the only way to defeat the Americans is by turning them against each other. Don’t fall for it,” wrote liberal anti-gun activist David Hogg.
“Russian intel’s asymmetrical warfare through active measures likely is already in full activation and only going to get stronger as we get closer to the election – Putin needs leaders in America loyal to him so they stop giving military aid and end sanctions against Russia.”
By the twisted logic of liberals ailing from Putin Derangement Syndrome, one might think Putin – in all his omnipotence – had to have manipulated millions of American voters into getting Trump elected in 2016 to set off a chain reaction he foresaw years in advance. Trump then appointed three conservative judges to the Supreme Court, who years later repealed Roe v. Wade in the middle of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
You couldn’t make this up. But the Democrats can. Their ability to compose complex political fiction would give House of Cards a run for its money. And they’re only doing it because they’ve run out of options.
While David Hogg might be somewhat of an outlier when it comes to attributing even Roe v. Wade to Putin, other Democrats are no less intent on distracting the electorate with the issue of abortion.
The move to turn Roe into a key issue in the November midterms is a last-ditch effort made in desperation as the Democrats flounder in the polls. With US inflation at a 40-year high, a free-for-all at the southern border, unending supply shortages, and pain at the gas pump – all of which the Democrats have no answers for – Biden and his cohort have no other issues they can bank on.
Simply put, the Democrats – in all their lofty ambitions for a green energy transition under Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ agenda – have failed their voters.
After all, no one’s buying “Putin’s price hike” as a talking point no matter how many times Biden repeats those words in front of the press. A recent fact check by Newsweek rated that attribution by Biden to be “false.” The Washington Post admits it wanted to rate the claim as “half-true,” but begrudgingly – perhaps to appease its reader base – left it unrated. And the Boston Globe called it “the latest Biden inflation myth.”
Most Americans are unconvinced by Biden’s spin, with only around one in ten voters falling for it.
Democrats have also aimed their sights at Ron DeSantis in the hopes that their support for the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports and for Drag Queen Story Hour can win them votes. Likening the Florida Republican to Putin – and branding him an enemy of the LGBTQ community – progressive activists have spent the entirety of Pride Month attacking DeSantis’ pro-parent, anti-grooming policies.
And when all that failed to distract Americans from the country’s most pressing problems, the Democrats turned to the issue of reproductive rights – of Roe v. Wade and what DeSantis thinks of it. After all, liberals have good reason to fear DeSantis – a recent straw poll shows him beating Trump as the primary choice for the Republicans’ nomination in the 2024 presidential election.
DeSantis’ decision to stand up to the liberals has steadily influenced other conservative governors and legislatures that are now fighting to claw society back from the decay of woke, Democrat policies – and his pro-life stance is now center stage.
As the Washington Post details, Florida has emerged as a “key battleground” in the state-by-state fight for pro-life policies following the repeal of Roe, where a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy has already passed legislation.
But will the issue be enough to sway voters? Probably not.
The presumption is that by focusing on Roe, more liberal women will turn out to vote. But as the dust settles and liberal voters – currently caught up in the hysteria of the Current Thing – calm down, they’ll come to realize that for Democrat-controlled states, nothing much will have changed with the repeal of Roe. All the repeal means is that abortion is now a state issue.
At the end of the day, people vote based on what’s most personal to them. For many people, that would be issues such as gas prices, the surge in violent crime and the baby formula shortages – precisely the problems Democrats don’t want anyone to think about. It’s hard to care about having an abortion on demand when you can’t even pay for a full tank of gas.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
