November 2, 2022

Why are Democrats so unenthusiastic about the midterm elections? Is it about abortion?

I'm reading this CNN report on its new poll:
Overall, 27% of registered voters say they are extremely enthusiastic about voting this year, down from 37% just ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and the decline in enthusiasm comes almost entirely among Democrats. Four years ago, 44% of Democratic registered voters said they were extremely enthusiastic about voting; now, just 24% say the same. Among Republicans, the number has dipped only narrowly, from 43% to 38%.

I wouldn't say a loss of 5 percentage points is "narrow," but the Democrats have lost 20 percentage points. That's enormous. What's going on?!

It could be simply that the economy is the biggest issue and people who like Democrats still don't trust them with the economy. Even if you love profuse spending, inflation hurts you every day, and at some point your own pain overshadows your self-image as a person of empathy. Maybe just stay home and disconnect. This election's not for you.

Similarly, a Democrat might abstractly endorse more empathy-oriented policies about crime but worry about their personal safety and the safety of their family. It may not be enough to flip them into voting for a law-and-order Republican, but it might induce abstention. I'll just turn away and let you rougher folks do things that might be needed.

But let's talk about abortion. When the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, Democratic Party politicians thought this was the issue that would rescue them from the red wave that had seemed inevitable. They pushed that issue hard and strongly identified themselves with a plan to pass statutes guaranteeing access to abortion. 

The CNN article tells us that abortion is the top issue for 15% of likely voters and for 29% of Democratic likely voters. But I want to know about those unlikely voters. I'm thinking that when abortion was understood and protected as a constitutional right, voting for the Democratic Party did not seem to have a direct causal connection to abortion. Now, the moral problem is stark. The Party is actively calling attention to the voters' role in making abortion available. 

I would think some people, in that situation, would distance and disconnect. Let others decide. Indeed, the erstwhile constitutional right represented the idea that the other should decide. That is, the woman who is experiencing the pregnancy makes the decision, and that is her right. But the decision-making is now in the political sphere, and those who want to stay out of the decision-making — who were adjusted to Roe — can refrain from voting.

123 comments:

mccullough said...

When times go bad the party in power is in trouble at election time.

Achilles said...

I would think some people, in that situation, would distance and disconnect. Let others decide. Indeed, the erstwhile constitutional right represented the idea that the other should decide. That is, the woman who is experiencing the pregnancy makes the decision, and that is her right. But the decision-making is now in the political sphere, and those who want to stay out of the decision-making — who were adjusted to Roe — can refrain from voting.

So some people think Women should never be responsible for anything they do and Democrats pander to people like this.

Some other people don't want to get involved with Women who are making difficult decisions. They just want the government to leave us alone.

But the majority of people want there to be some sort of middle ground solution where women have a reasonable amount of time to make a decision and after that take some sort of responsibility for that decision.

A lot of people also don't like the way men ans women are treated differently in the case.

Well a lot of men and the some women who want women to actually take responsibility and be worthy of equal treatment anyways...

wild chicken said...

Heh. Cowardice, all the way down.

Kay said...

I’m someone who is for abortion, but never votes. I’ve been thinking of participating this time around using this issue to motivate me, but i’m still unsure because I don’t want to vote for someone who is pro-choice but also wants more war or something like that. I think there are no easy answers. Underpinning all this is a belief that voting doesn’t work.

RideSpaceMountain said...

It's about the Amnesty screed but Burns hits this right on the head in one paragraph (and elsewhere) in this post. Abortion is going to turn out to be a generational issue, and that generation is fading in the face of newer generations that are either vehemently pro-life or have cohorts that are too poor to afford kids or aren't even having enough sex to care.

https://emilyburns.substack.com/p/with-whom-does-emily-oster-want-an?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

"What democrats, and their credibility-launderers like Oster want women to do, is to put two things on the scales. One one side, is the harm that was done to your children, to you, to your community over nearly three years. On the other is the fear of a loss of access to abortion services. What they are hoping, is that their female base will believe the lie that Dr. Oster is peddling, that it was all just an unfortunate mistake, and could never happen again. It’s in the past! Don’t worry about it. Likewise, they will hope that their female base will forget that rather than living in 1972, with limited access to contraception, we live in 2022, where contraception that is more than 99% effective is inexpensive and widely available, even if paying out of pocket; that this contraception, includes abortion pills, which can be accessed anywhere in the country by mail up to 10 weeks of gestation. They want you to forget about the interstate commerce clause which would make hindering this nearly impossible—even, or especially, with a conservative court. They want you to forget that a flight to an abortion-providing state is at most a $200 plane ride away. Or that should you fail to secure an abortion, the worst-case scenario results in a baby you choose to give up for adoption. They want you to forget that if they win the senate, they would still have to overturn the filibuster to do this, and the important political stabilization that the 60-vote threshold provides. They want you to forget that they failed to legally codify access to abortion for 50 years. And they want you to forget that there is no way on earth they are going to give up the only issue they have to reliably stoke fear, drum up dollars, and drive women to the polls. Not a chance in hell."

Rt41Rebel said...

Yeah, if I voted for Biden, I'd probably sit this one out.

Michael said...

The times did not just "go bad." The party currently in power made them bad through their policies on crime, schools, the economy, energy, foreign policy, etc. And the consequences have finally penetrated the protective media screen and become apparent to the average person. Who oddly doesn't wish to vote for more of the same.

RideSpaceMountain said...

This is a punishment election.
A revenge election.
It's not just about anger and fear.
It's about hate.
And very well deserved.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

How weird. I just saw a poll over at Ace's site that showed 90% of white voters are EXTREMELY MOTIVATED or VERY MOTIVATED to vote next week: Ace of Spades Graphic. Same pol shows similar enthusiasm to vote for Hispanic (roughly 80%) and Black voters (about 85%). It's just a crappy year to be a democrat and an even worse year to vote for one!

Mike Sylwester said...

All the states will legalize abortion for at least the first 15 weeks. That's more than the Roe v. Wade decision did.

=======

I live in New Jersey, so I have seen hundreds of Governor Kathy Hochul's political advertisements on TV.


In the election race, Hochul's main issue is abortion.

Her opponent Lee Zeldin's main issue is crime.

Drago said...

"Why are Democrats so unenthusiastic about the midterm elections? Is it about abortion?"

For the New Soviet Democraticals, government is their religion and abortion is its primary sacrament, so any potential constraint on abortion will always cause New Soviet Democraticals to become depressed and demoralized, though in the case of this year's election there are other issues as well which the most important being this: The New Soviet Democraticals failure across the board to such an astonishing extent in an amazingly short period of time has left the Democraticals completely exposed and now even the squishy independents and the least partisan democraticals are abandoning the dems in every region of the country and the old tried and true New Soviet Democraticals tactics of trying to hang democratical failures on republicans isn't working.

One final point on that: the New Soviet Democraticals lock down fanaticism led to the full disclosure of the dems undeniably groomer-y policies which have harmed and frightened the entirety of the nations children and families.....and now the dems are learning what happens when you go after people's children.

"I'm reading this CNN report on its new poll:"
Overall, 27% of registered voters say they are extremely enthusiastic about voting this year, down from 37% just ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and the decline in enthusiasm comes almost entirely among Democrats."


Any poll past Oct1 in an election year that is using registered voters vs likely voters is completely corrupted. Not a surprise CNN would pull that in NOV!! And don't get me started on the Fox pollster unit which has always leaned left and has moved far left under the direction of the partisan lifelong dem the Murdock sons put in place to run it.

Mike Sylwester said...

The Democrats are missing a prime opportunity to argue that abortion laws should be determined by the Commerce Clause.

That argument might convince a lot of independents to vote for them in this election.

Dave Begley said...

The Dems know that their policies are total and complete failures. But they can't admit it.

How any sane person could vote for John Fetterman is beyond my comprehension.

What was the name of that famous ventriloquist dummy? Might have well run him.

gilbar said...

but the Democrats have lost 20 percentage points. That's enormous. What's going on?!

well, as Al Smith would say.. Let's Take a Look, a The Record.
What are democrats In Favor of?
free speech? NO!
judging a person by their character, instead of the color of their skin? NO!
blue color labor? NO!
...
Allowing men to out compete women? YES!
Telling (REALLY) young girls; their Only Hope is to cut off their boobs, and pretend to be boys? YES!
GIVING our country to foreigners ? YES!
Letting LITERALLY brain damaged white guys run the country? YES!
Making america buy gas (at $5/gal) from the Saudis and the Russians YES!
Starting a thermonuclear war, to protect fascists? YES!

Michael K said...

The Democrats have tried to convince their LIV voters that the Supreme Court banned abortion. They failed. Too many voters understand what happened. Also, those same LIV voters are seeing the disaster the Democrats have created with their policies on fossil fuel and inflation. The voters are smarter than Democrats think they are.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Biden is a disaster - and only the most loyal democrats are still on board.

hombre said...

If you were a Democrat (assuming you are not), would you be enthusiastic about voting for the mediocrities they are running?

This poll also suggests that some Dems have not been duped. Congressional elections ought not to be the battleground over abortion legislation. Think about inflation, open borders And fentanyl, federal government corruption, Afghanistan, energy prices, crime, etc.

Some Dems may no longer subscribe to the Party's holy quartet of sex, race, state and climate.

Quaestor said...

"I wouldn't say a loss of 5 percentage points is 'narrow,' but the Democrats have lost 20 percentage points. That's enormous. What's going on?!"

This is entirely explainable by CNN's confirmed habit of over-polling Democrats at the expense of Republicans.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, there never was a “right” to abortion, merely a judicial fiat. Dobbs happened far enough in advance of the election so that sensible people understand that the issue is whether there will be commonsense restrictions on abortion, not whether the US will revert to the mythological coat hangers in dark alleys. Just as commonsense restrictions on my right to keep and bear arms does not extend to allowing me to buy a .50 caliber heavy machine gun for home defense use, so the 2019 efforts of Virginia Democrats to support the extension of abortion rights to babies born alive are precluded.

Mr. T. said...

Halloween is over.

The dead voters are all back asleep in their graves now.

Achilles said...

Why are Democrat voters unenthusiastic?

Record inflation leave no where to hide.


I have been investing based on the assumption there is a shadowy cabal of shitheads trying to destroy the middle class all over the world.

I have been moving in the markets as if:

1. The Cabal uses the central banks are trying to destroy all currencies except the Dollar which they are printing off and giving to themselves.
2. The Cabal is trying to reduce the human population.
3. The Cabal is trying to reduce the standard of living of the human population.
4. The Cabal needs a Black Swan event to blame the economic failure on.

I have been doing very well.

I am pleased that they failed to provoke Russia into using Nukes. I am also pleasantly surprised that China hasn't invaded Taiwan yet.

They aren't going to be able to use another lab created pathogen again.

Claus has recently mentioned that the world isn't prepared for a world wide cyber attack. I think there is only one entity with the resources to pull that off. Nobody would be fooled by that.

I also believe that the Cabal is going to be running for their lives barely in front of a angry mob for the next several years starting fairly soon.

Static Ping said...

People are generally not enthusiastic about voting for losers. The Democratic Party is in control of the government and just about everything they have touched has gone to crap. Who would be excited to vote for them, other than fanatics? Their key issue does not help in this regard, as Roe v. Wade was overturned due to them failing to block Trump's judges, and they could have always passed the ruling into legislation at any time and never even attempted it.

That said, people will vote for losers if they think the alternative is worse, but when you fail at everything that is a tough sell.

Yancey Ward said...

Another fake poll with a purpose- this poll is trying to scare Democrats to the polls, and depress Republicans from going to vote. My observation is that Republicans are chomping at the bit to vote against President Shit for Brains.

Yancey Ward said...

One can't help but wonder why the voters aren't giving Joe Biden credit for the large increase in Social Security the recipients are getting this coming year.

Krumhorn said...

Even if you love profuse spending, inflation hurts you every day, and at some point your own pain overshadows your self-image as a person of empathy.

Perfectly stated!

- Krumhorn

Original Mike said...

RideSpaceMountain said:

"…they will hope that their female base will forget that rather than living in 1972, with limited access to contraception, we live in 2022, where contraception that is more than 99% effective is inexpensive and widely available, even if paying out of pocket;

that this contraception, includes abortion pills, which can be accessed anywhere in the country by mail up to 10 weeks of gestation.

They want you to forget about the interstate commerce clause which would make hindering this nearly impossible—even, or especially, with a conservative court.

They want you to forget that a flight to an abortion-providing state is at most a $200 plane ride away."


Thank you for laying this out. Abortion is not an issue that is top of my mind, but I have this feeling that all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth is inappropriate to the actual difficulties imposed. I have always felt that if the pro-abortion crowd was sincere, they could easily be funding those interstate trips. This is about wielding a political cudgel, and it is heartening that maybe it's effectiveness is waning.

Mike said...

Paraphrasing that great old New York Magazine cartoon (where a frantic Ad executive explains to his client why the ad campaign was a failure) this is a "Dogs don't like the dog food" election.

Yes abortion is an important issue for some (although since my wife and I are both in our late 70s, not for us). But there are so many things that have gone wrong or gone south under Team Biden-Pelosi-Schumer that many, if not most, voters are just sick of the current crop of Democrats and their priorities and policies. They will either not vote--or vote to throw the bums out.

Mr Wibble said...

The establishment spent four years throwing a tantrum over Trump, to the point that plenty of suburban normals wanted him gone in the hopes that life would return to normal. They went to the polls to get rid of the badorangeman. Now that he's gone, and the world hasn't gotten better, they have no incentive to vote D again. Biden can't hide in the basement this time, and neither can Congressional Dems.

Blair said...

I think the focus on abortion shows just how out of touch Democrats have become. Presumably they thought the issue would move the needle on suburban women who lean GOP on other issues, but it's just not a trump card for those women. The women who "need" abortion are either young/unmarried/promiscuous, or poor and dark-skinned - both groups are normally in the tank for Democrats anyway. Suburban woman may have unwanted pregnancies, but they're usually not a life changing crisis in the same way. So abortion, even if they support legal access, is never going to assume more importance than the price of beef and gas. And continuing to hammer the issue is actually just alienating them. It tells them Democrats don't actually care about what's really important, which they don't.

hombre said...

"Just think, we are the Party that nominated and comfirmed a Supreme Court Justice who doesn't know what a woman is. Vote for us enthusiastically!"

LA_Bob said...

Were Trump now serving a second term, I think at least some of the difficulties we face now would still have happened (inflation comes to mind -- the president simply doesn't "run" the economy). And who knows where we'd be on COVID, how differently the vaccine rollouts would have gone in 2021 -- likely no mandates controversy. Would Trump have removed the troops from Afghanistan?

But, I'm confident Trump would have handled these challenges more competently (for examples, we might have a border crisis or a diesel fuel shortage). Never underestimate, it is said, Joe's ability to screw things up. He's done a stellar job of that in his first two years.

FleetUSA said...

It sounds like they've shifted off abortion and are now pushing J6 and evil Republican rioters.

mezzrow said...

Dave Begley asked: "What was the name of that famous ventriloquist dummy? Might have well run him."

Thanks for teeing this one up, Dave.

That was Charlie McCarthy, and the man with his hand up his bum was named Edgar Bergen. Edgar had a lovely famous actress daughter named Candice, who played a character named Murphy Brown, who despite being a professional single woman went ahead and had the baby. That provided an opportunity for Bill Kristol's boss, Dan Quayle, to get himself in hot water with a media that would go to any length to take down a potatoe spelling Republican VP.

Check the comparative figures for births out of wedlock over this timeline. File under "how we got here."
Misty, water colored memories...

tim maguire said...

4 years ago, the Republicans owned the whole shebang. Of course the people who thought they were doing a terrible job were excited about the opportunity to vote them out. Now it's the Democrats who are doing a terrible job. So what are those Democratic voters supposed to be excited about? Another 2 years of terrible? Throwing out their own team?

Frankly, I'm surprised the drop off is only 20%. Another testament to how deluded so many political partisans are.

Clyde said...

People on death row are also unenthusiastic about taking that final walk. And the Dems are going to be surprised at some of the folks who are taking that final walk on Tuesday.

Krumhorn said...

I'm thinking that when abortion was understood and protected as a constitutional right, voting for the Democratic Party did not seem to have a direct causal connection to abortion. Now, the moral problem is stark. The Party is actively calling attention to the voters' role in making abortion available.

I wonder if the moral problem is really all that stark. Even otherwise thoughtful and somewhat reasonable lefties are hardcore in support of abortion-at-any-time-during-pregnancy without even a glimmer of concern for the morality of where that leads. I suspect that the dark images of coat hangers and back alley practitioners of the D&C arts are the haunting motivations of the boomer women and their mothers. The Millennials and the Zers have never had to ask around to see if any of their acquaintances ’know someone’. Given the statistics at this point, isn’t abortion access really an equity thing? That’s not as animating as coat hangers.

- Krumhorn


Aggie said...

I think the majority of Democrat voters are fairly normal people, with a shared set of conventional and fairly bourgeois values - and for the past 6 years they've been watching the party they identify with get steadily crazy, not just about their political opposition, but by breaking bad on just about every single issue that addresses their values in some way. The party has been hijacked left, and so far left that it's in crazy-ville. How does a normal person vote for crazy? Answer: They don't; but not wanting to vote Republican, their only option is to sit this one out and see if things will change.

It's hard to vote for a Death Cult when you don't want death.

Virgil Hilts said...

I think crime is a big issue. I read the FreeBeacon story about Jennifer Wexton (now running for Congress) pleading soft short sentences for rape crimes. Just an unreal story. I can imagine a lot of democrat parents being less worred about their daughter having to jump through some hoops to get an abortion than an illegal alien predator kidnapping that same daughter, draggin her to the woods and raping her, and then getting a "oh that's not such a bad crime" 4 month jail sentence agreed to by an insane progressive like Wexton.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Mr Wibble said..."The establishment spent four years throwing a tantrum over Trump, to the point that plenty of suburban normals wanted him gone in the hopes that life would return to normal. They went to the polls to get rid of the badorangeman. Now that he's gone, and the world hasn't gotten better, they have no incentive to vote D again."

I think that sums it up nicely. IMO, the over the top Trump-hate was a conscious strategy of the Left exactly as you state.

Michael said...

.
Very interesting polling data coming out of the Oregon where for the first time in 40 years a Republican is within spitting distance of the Governor's mansion. In the bluest parts of the bluest city (Portland), law and order is a bigger priority than abortion. It's even forced Tina Kotek, the sitting Speaker Of The House and Dem gubernatorial candidate, to run Tough On Crime advertisements in the local alternative press/radio.

Really is something to behold
.

Michael said...

.
Very interesting polling data coming out of the Oregon where for the first time in 40 years a Republican is within spitting distance of the Governor's mansion. In the bluest parts of the bluest city (Portland), law and order is a bigger priority than abortion. It's even forced Tina Kotek, the sitting Speaker Of The House and Dem gubernatorial candidate, to run Tough On Crime advertisements in the local alternative press/radio.

Really is something to behold
.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Your average Democrat is embarrassed to be a Democrat now. Your average left-ish suburban Mom is embarrassed that she supported all the COVID policies that destroyed her kids education and caused the gas prices that doubled the cost of filling her SUV.

They won't vote R. They just won't vote out of embarrassment.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Maybe if we could see Fetterman and Biden defend their stand on the hard core issues, a lot more could be settled.
Maybe sexually mutilating confused children isn't sitting too well with the rank and file. It wasn't that long ago that dems Vehemently campaigned against clitoridectomy!

Real American said...

The issue in 2018 was Trump. The issue in 2020 was Trump. Trump is not on the ballot this time. We have actual problems that require leadership and without Trump driving people (pro and against) to the polls, these other regular political issues motivate Democrat voters only to a lesser extent. None of these issues is as polarizing as Trump, so why would Democrats be driven to the polls?

You see it in the Democrats' messaging about the GOP candidates being mega MAGA or other consultantized nonsense - they're trying to make Trump and abortion the issue. They're losing because of neither one of those is a big problem facing most people, including Democrats. What is the issue is Democrats' incompetent governance on the economy, schools, and crime (which they're avoiding), but also because Trump isn't the issue. He's not on the ballot. Abortion is only indirectly on the ballot. They're basically running the Terry McAuliffe playbook and we all saw how well that worked out.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

For my generation (also Ann's), abortion opinions became a proxy for everything else culturally. It showed you were "for" women or "for" traditional values. Were you a modern person or were you some horrible retrograde? Were you a person who "cared?" (Either way on that one.) There were pro-life Democrats for a long time and there still are a few. There were pro-choice Republicans and still are a few of those as well. But they were forced out in the culture wars, first to the sidelines and then to shut up altogether.

Dobbs separated them again and the consequences of that are unclear. But for those who were counting on abortion rights being a big issue for Democrats this election, that 15% who consider it their number one issue, it is largely because it is still a proxy issue for them. It is not only an important piece as a single issue, it is central as an emotional one. And they just don't understand why others, especially women, don't also see it that way.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Maybe?... https://amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/oct/30/no-such-thing-as-a-christian-democrat/
Perhaps some democrats like children? Stretching there, I know... not much evidence.

Breezy said...

Dobbs ruling says abortion is a State issue, not a Federal one. Maybe most people actually get that, so their vote in the Fed midterm is not about abortion.

Gusty Winds said...

Maybe some Democrats are taking a look in the mirror and regretting the mRNA shot, the lockdowns they supported, the voter fraud they know is real, the damage done by defund the police, the trans pole dancing shows for little kids...all of it. They are living in this messed up country like everyone else. And they voted for all of it.

At some point a sense of shame has to kick in when you realize "Oh my God. I've become Joy Behar".

rhhardin said...

Feelings: Similarly, a Democrat might abstractly endorse more empathy-oriented policies about crime

System collapses.

Structure: I'll just turn away and let you rougher folks do things that might be needed

Let the men fix it.

Paul said...

They are 'unenthusiastic' cause:

1) Inflation
2) tanking economy
3) War in Ukraine
4) Illegals flooding southern border
5) Energy crisis
6) ALL THIS CRIME SHIT!!!
7) SENILE OLD MAN FOR A DEMOCRAT PRESIDENT
8) IDIOT FOR A DEMOCRAT VICE PRESIDENT
9) drunk old b*tch for Speaker of the House & drunk old pervert husband

Just everything Biden and Harris touches turns to shit...

Hence the 'unenthusiastic' Democrat voters.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Everyone realized that if they don't like the local law on abortion, they can elect new legislators every two years.

We don't have to wait for judges to die to change the law anymore. SCOTUS didn't ban abortion.

Abortion is one issue among many, and a single election won't determine the outcome for a generation.

MadisonMan said...

What's to be enthusiastic about for a Democrat?

BUMBLE BEE said...

Or... amybe?...
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/you-murderous-hypocrites-outrage-ensues-after-atlantic-suggests-amnesty-pandemic

madAsHell said...

Abortion as a platform issue makes no sense at all. It would seem to be a very small demographic.

Jersey Fled said...

I must have seen 100 ads from Fetterman claiming that if Oz is elected Republicans will outlaw abortions nationally.

They are obviously targeting the “stupid” vote.

Jaq said...

It’s a corollary of “buy on the rumor; sell on the news.”

traditionalguy said...

Over the last 2 years the Soros funded Dems have openly and intentionally destroyed this country and lied 100% of the time making up as a cover story absurd fictions about a Climate Catastrophe and The Big Bad Orange Man is Hitler. After those 2 years even the old Dems are through with supporting that mega crap.

And the Destroy America activists including magic Obama have lost their hypnotic spell over the Dems ever sense the mass murder of babies has slacked off by 10,000ca human sacrifice victims industrially offered up to their god .That ritual murder went way down after the Court with its 3 new Trump appointees had the States take back over making abortion rules.

And everyone knows who accomplished it. The humble warrior with #45 on his back. And he also opened an Embassy in Jerusalem. And he also called out China’s rape of American industries. And he made the US energy independent. And he did all that while the entire DC deep state colluded with their Media branch to destroy him.

Original Mike said...

" I think at least some of the difficulties we face now would still have happened (inflation comes to mind -- the president simply doesn't "run" the economy)."

A lot of this inflation is from Biden's purposeful suppression of energy production.

Rollo said...

I wouldn't put it this way if you hadn't set it up so perfectly, but ...

... it's the economy, stupid.

Big Mike said...

I actually read the silly screed. First, I note that there are no graphs or charts showing the raw data. What if the difference between the 2018 and 2022 polls were entirely due to people this time around saying “enthusiastic”to the pollsters instead of saying “very enthusiastic”? Either way, it seems quite likely that the individual expressing the sentiment is going to vote.

Secondly, aside from being midterm elections I don’t see how the years are in any way comparable. In 2018 the US economy was booming, I don’t think we were exporting oil and natural gas yet, but that day was obviously coming. Antifa hadn’t burned down a bunch of cities yet, and they were mostly a Portland problem. Was violent crime still trending down? I think so. Egged on by the newsmedia, Democrats were enthusiastic about voting against the bad orange man in the White House, but this year Republicans need no prodding to vote for checks and balances on the foddering, senile, demented, old fool in the White House.

The article calls abortion the “second-ranking issue.” Not in 2022 it isn’t. Polls consistently name the economy, gas prices, and crime as the top three issues, with the economy #1 and the crime and gas prices issues swapping places depending on whether the poll oversampled urban voters vs. suburban and rural voters. The issue of abortion seldom rises above #5, despite Dobbs.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Cut and paste -
"We’re voting Republican because we want reasonable immigration policy that reflects the needs and the good of America, while allowing for a generous refugee program for those fleeing disaster. And the only way to accomplish this is with a border that is secure in the first place and not annually letting in tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and tons of fentanyl. And we resent being told that holding this position is racist and that we just “don’t want more brown people here.”

Along these lines, we’re voting Republican because we’re sick of being told that every policy disagreement we have with the Left is rooted in racism, sexism, or some other mean-spirited “ism” on our part."

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

more...


We’re voting Republican because Democrats control every major city in America and—let’s face it—you suck at governance. Your cities are in shambles. They are hotbeds of crime and are always on the verge of bankruptcy. Your policies engender government dependence under the guise of compassion, encourage lawbreaking, and pit neighbors against one another in class and racial warfare.

We’re voting Republican because you have embraced the dangerous idiocy of gender fluidity and have poisoned our children into hating themselves and seeking hormone therapy and surgical mutilation without parental knowledge as a solution to the angst you’ve created.

We’re voting Republican because every person decrying America’s history and Judeo-Christian heritage, and every person calling for our cultural and historical icons to be replaced with woke role models, and every person voicing support for “Drag Queen Story Hour” in our public libraries is a self-professed Democrat.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

This time not everyone has a brain-damaged candidate who will do the bidding of the party elders to vote for.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

more...

"We’re voting Republican because after two-plus years of Covid hysteria and governmental overreach, we know it was largely your party that enforced protracted lockdowns that resulted in skyrocketing business closures, suicides, domestic assaults, substance abuse, psychological trauma, and the trampling of our Constitutional rights. You required vaccinations as a condition of participation in society, forced masks on three-year-olds, and put the vulnerable elderly into nursing homes that were raging with Covid infection. You dismissed any therapy suggested by then-President Donald Trump because of that fact, scorned those who questioned the efficacy of masks, lockdowns, or the vaccine, and even to this day you maintain a sense of superiority and refuse to acknowledge that you did anything wrong.

We’re voting Republican because, despite mounting evidence that there are some very serious health effects from the Covid vaccines, you treat every inquiry about the vaccination status of an unexplained death with horror that anyone would ask such a question (though you had no problem asking the question when you wanted to prevent the unvaccinated from going to a restaurant)."

alanc709 said...

"Yancey Ward said...
One can't help but wonder why the voters aren't giving Joe Biden credit for the large increase in Social Security the recipients are getting this coming year."

People are blaming Biden for the large SSI increase. Most people realize the increase proves the lie of Biden controlling inflation, which is the impetus for the large SSI increase.

MikeR said...

@Mike S "All the states will legalize abortion for at least the first 15 weeks. That's more than the Roe v. Wade decision did." Uh, where did you get that from? It sounds like a very good idea politically for the GOP, but near as I can tell they aren't doing it.

Mark said...

MAYBE being able to legally kill innocent babies is not all that high on some people's electoral priorities?

Lurker21 said...

The COVID amnesty idea has backfired so spectacularly that one could almost believe the idea came out of the White House, Pelosi-Schumer or the DNC.

People who weren't even thinking there was anything to be amnestied for are getting riled up now about the lockdowns and mandates.

I'm not saying it's changed voters' minds, but it's preparing the way for a lot of investigations after the election.

PJ said...

The Democrats could have capitalized on Dobbs more effectively, and the Republicans gave them every opportunity to do so. But the Dems made (at least) two ill-advised tactical decisions. First, they grossly overstated, as if with one voice, the consequences of Dobbs. There was too much time between the leak of the decision and the midterm elections for that gambit to work. Even a relatively low-information voter who has a strong interest in the abortion issue has learned by now that Dobbs did not outlaw any abortion anywhere. Second, they failed to act as though they thought Dobbs was a genuine calamity. They did not make any serious attempt at a legislative fix that would have restored the first-trimester right described in Roe and Casey, preferring to advocate for a much broader right while doing nothing. They were too transparent about preferring to keep a possibly exploitable issue alive. And the broader right they advocated, abortion on demand until birth, is not something that inspires enthusiasm even in most Roe supporters.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

more...
"We’re voting Republican because the double standard held by prominent Democrats when it comes to violent behavior is dangerous and morally reprehensible. You decry “the violent rhetoric of the Right” but remain silent when left-wing activists show up at Supreme Court Justices’ homes armed to assassinate them, or shoot up Congressional baseball games, or burn and loot businesses."

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

More..

"We’re voting Republican because the past two decades have proven to us that the Democratic party has transformed from the party of the people to the party of the woke elite, and the GOP has transformed from the party of the rich to the party of the middle class. If you don’t want to believe this, drive through wealthy, upper-class neighborhoods and see whose political signs they have in their manicured yards compared with the signs you’ll see in middle-class American neighborhoods.

We’re voting Republican because your policies have driven up the cost of everything, making it harder for middle Americans to make ends meet."

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

more...,

"We’re voting Republican because President Biden is a disaster at both foreign policy (we are the laughingstock of the world) and domestic affairs (with plummeting education rates, rising mortality rates, and every other metric that matters).

We’re voting Republican because you have allowed the extremists in your party to dictate your direction, policy priorities, and talking points. You can protest that what I’m saying doesn’t reflect all Democrats, but in looking at your platform and the rhetoric of the majority of your candidates, how would anyone know that?"

There are extremists on both sides, but if that’s your constant response to the real criticisms I’ve leveled in this letter, then it all amounts to whataboutism, which isn’t really a defense. Your party leaders have become morally bankrupt and un-American. That’s why you’re losing elections, from national Senate races to local school boards. Yes, you’re still winning some elections here and there because you’ve successfully captured every major culture-making institution in the nation, and the mainstream media covers for your failures.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

more...,

"We’re voting Republican because President Biden is a disaster at both foreign policy (we are the laughingstock of the world) and domestic affairs (with plummeting education rates, rising mortality rates, and every other metric that matters).

We’re voting Republican because you have allowed the extremists in your party to dictate your direction, policy priorities, and talking points. You can protest that what I’m saying doesn’t reflect all Democrats, but in looking at your platform and the rhetoric of the majority of your candidates, how would anyone know that?

There are extremists on both sides, but if that’s your constant response to the real criticisms I’ve leveled in this letter, then it all amounts to whataboutism, which isn’t really a defense. Your party leaders have become morally bankrupt and un-American. That’s why you’re losing elections, from national Senate races to local school boards. Yes, you’re still winning some elections here and there because you’ve successfully captured every major culture-making institution in the nation, and the mainstream media covers for your failures. "

wendybar said...

It's THIS. I have heard enough of Kathy Hochuls screeching about killing babies that I want to throw something at the TV. She is a ghoul. She claims crime is a conspiracy, and she is only about killing as many babies as they can pay for using your money.
Stop it. Done. I hope they lose in a landfall, and I hope Joe Biden loses in 2024.
It's time to right the ship and put the bullies on the left in their places.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2022/11/02/non-stop-abortion-ads-are-making-democrat-women-look-like-bloodthirsty-ghouls-n1642039

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

finally..

"But your [democrat] power base consists of easy-to-deceive octogenarians who loved Kennedy and still see you as the party of the people, transsexuals and their family members who think that embracing your party will somehow result in a better life for those suffering from gender dysphoria, third-wave feminists who hate the fact of gender essentialism, minorities who you’ve successfully convinced can’t improve their lives without you, and college students who think you’re going to be able to deliver on your promise of free everything for everybody. Your policies and ideology keep creating more and more such people, so it’s no wonder you’re still winning some elections. But your mask is slipping, and people are finally waking up to what you’ve become."

JAORE said...

"One can't help but wonder why the voters aren't giving Joe Biden credit for the large increase in Social Security the recipients are getting this coming year."

I'll assume you are not being sarcastic.

Biden has tried for this credit. BUT the SS increase is on autopilot. It is tied to the consumer price index and has been for decades. So, really, Biden had no "leadership" on this. Although his policies DID help spur inflation, so....

As to abortion I think it is finally filtering through that the SCOTUS did NOT ban abortion. Also many states have already legislated abortion as legal. That takes some of the scare out of scare tactics.

wendybar said...

"Dear Ms. Pelosi,

Why I Am Voting Republican"

https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/why-i-am-voting-republican

Eleanor said...

Most women who put abortion at the top of their reason to vote list fought for legal abortion in 1972 and are post-menopausal. A lot of women in 1972 were against abortion back then and haven't changed their minds. Young women might be for abortion rights, but now they have easy access to inexpensive contraception so abortion isn't at the top of their concerns regardless of the rate of inflation. The Democrats haven't awakened to abortion has lost its power to determine the outcome of an election. Hopefully, this election will make that clear.

Mark said...

What democrats...want women to do, is to put two things on the scales. One one side, is the harm that was done to your children, to you, to your community over nearly three years. On the other is the fear of a loss of access to abortion services.

No. What democrats want women to do, is to put two things on the scales. One one side, is the harm that was done to your children, to you, to your community over nearly three years. On the other is the fear of a loss of doing harm to your child yourself by killing her or him before, during or even after birth.

Jim at said...

Speaking from personal experience, I've never been enthusiastic about getting my ass kicked.

But that's just me.

Mark said...

What Dems don't understand -- or don't care about since their sole motivation is POWER by any means necessary -- is that there is a growing "we are the pro-life generation" and it is overwhelmingly young female and determined.

n.n said...

Abortion (Her Choice). Elective abortion (her Choice). They look forward to sequestering the burdens of evidence in darkness. Will the People take a knee?

n.n said...

Post-Roe, Roe, Roe your baby politics: 3/5... 1/2 compromise to mitigate progressive liberalism. Think of the Fetal-Baby.

That said, while Social Security is almost entirely funded at pre-progressive prices, Medicare and Medicaid are only 20% funded. Redistributive change and Green energy policies, baby... Fetal-Baby... People of Pink.

n.n said...

a lot of men and the some women who want women to actually take responsibility and be worthy of equal treatment

Most men and women stand up for responsibility that follows with informed consent (e.g. first choice - the hardest job you will ever love) and reconcile as adults do. Life is not so short...

Maynard said...

If Democrats listened to Spotify (as I just did for 90 minutes on the treadmill) they would know that our freedom to vote is at stake in this election.

According to the AZ Democrat Party, the Republicans will not only take away Social Security (as they have been accused for over 50 years) but they will take away our precious rights to abortion, voting and everything else we hold dear.

This sort of scare talk is focused on getting Democrats excited to vote, not on convincing Independents or Republicans (with the exception of Crazy Lizzie).

n.n said...

Big Oil, Small Oil

... Green flatline after trillions redistributed.... uh, invested.

Zeldyrr said...

I think the explanation is the bubble problem. The leaders of the Democratic party are living in a woke, ideological bubble that is not shared by the majority of members of their own party.

To the leaders, trans and non-binary rights including surgeries on 7 year-olds, hiding such surgeries from parents, destroying women's sports, hate crimes for anyone that argues there are only 2 sexes, and so on is absolutely correct and above question or examination. To most democrats, family is important and basic science about the nature of humans is obvious. It's the problem with arguing that "men can have babies" and pushing that anyone who says they can't should be banned from twitter. It sounds great in the echo chamber. It causes people outside the bubble--aka the bulk majority of the party--to lose enthusiasm.

Temujin said...

"Why are Democrats so unenthusiastic about the midterm elections?"

Why are Detroit Lions fans so unenthusiastic about this season, or any season?

Because their teams suck, they know they suck, and there's nothing they can do about it.

Michael said...

In sports a common refrain is Managers only manage. It's the players who play This is usually said in a somber voice to lament the firing of the bench boss. Often it is designed to deflect blame from the man in charge. Today we see this huge effort to excuse Joe Biden for the shabby condition of this country.

But sometimes the best thing to do is keep the players and fire the manager as we are watching right before our eyes

Michael said...

In sports a common refrain is Managers only manage. It's the players who play This is usually said in a somber voice to lament the firing of the bench boss. Often it is designed to deflect blame from the man in charge. Today we see this huge effort to excuse Joe Biden for the shabby condition of this country.

But sometimes the best thing to do is keep the players and fire the manager as we are watching right before our eyes

Michael K said...

Abortion is not working, even on the base.

Judging by the ads running here in the Raleigh area, the Democrats are running a single-issue campaign, directed solely at women, about how the GOP is going to flatly ban abortion. I am not exaggerating when I say it’s the main focus of 95% of Democrat (and liberal–I was a bit surprised to see the ACLU directly paying for what appeared to be a Planned Parenthood abortion ad) messaging I have seen. I’ve never seen anything like it.

frenchy said...

Abortion is such a 70s thing. What mattered to baby boomer women 50 years ago is not what gets people fired up to vote in today's world.

Gospace said...

JAORE said...
"One can't help but wonder why the voters aren't giving Joe Biden credit for the large increase in Social Security the recipients are getting this coming year."


In addition to what Jaore said- it's why I'm getting a bigger increase in my military retirement pay, my NYS retirement pay, and when it's finally annpunced, my federal wages this next year.

None of which approach a doubling of my fuel oil bill for the winter. I have a well insulated house. I use about 1,000 gallons a year for heat and hot water. My neighbors down the road with a smaller house use about 1200 gallons for just winter month's heating. They're not on inflation adjusted pensions or pay scales.

minnesota farm guy said...

I am going out on a limb to say that perhaps many Democrats are intelligent enough to see what the "election" of Biden has wrought and are willing to make an effort to correct their mistake. Whether they will feel the same way when 2024 rolls around remains to be seen. Certainly there have to be a lot of suburban women who voted Biden because Trump was rude and crude and made them uncomfortable. Big mistake and they are reacting to it.

Achilles said...

I wouldn't say a loss of 5 percentage points is "narrow," but the Democrats have lost 20 percentage points. That's enormous. What's going on?!

It is called a Preference Cascade Ann.

This is what happens when a censorious persecuting illegitimate regime falls. We have been living under the threat of arrest, losing our jobs, and discrimination if we spoke up with the wrong view for the last 2 years.

Censorship of wrongthink has been pervasive.

And now the dam is breaking.

We wont censor or persecute. They absolutely deserve to be treated like they treated us but we wont do it.

But we are going to spend the next several years humiliating these douchey scumbags.

Quoteable"

Hey—sorry you lost your job b/c of the vax that doesn’t work and your grandmother died alone and you couldn’t have a funeral and your brother’s business was needlessly destroyed and your kids have weird heart problems—but let’s just admit we were all wrong and call a truce, eh?

It’s too bad we shut the entire economy down & took on tyrannical powers that have never been used before in this country—looking back, you should have been able to go to church and use public parks while we let people riot in the streets—but it was a confusing time for everyone.

Hey I'm sorry we scared the hell out of you & lied for years & persecuted & censored anyone who disagreed but there was an election going on & we really wanted to beat Donald Trump so it was important to radically politicize the science even if it destroyed your children's lives.

OK, yes we said unvaccinated people should die & not get healthcare while never questioning Big Pharma once but we are compassionate people which is why even though we shut down the entire economy we also bankrupted the nation & caused inflation. You're welcome! Let's be friends.

minnesota farm guy said...

As I told my wife today I think that the Biden administration may rank as the number one incompetent administration in our history. We have had some real weak sisters, but for consciously betraying the American worker and family these guys take the cake.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Thank you Althouse, you've given me something more to think about.

I think part of the "abortion voter suppression" is coming from people who were freaked out a "The GOP will ban all abortions", who then found out that the GOP generally is NOT fighting to ban all abortions, but the Democrats AR fighting to ban all abortion laws.

Since < 20% of the country is ok with 9th month abortions, but essentially every Dem candidate is supporting them, I expect that some people are wincing and turning away on that front.

I hadn't thought about people who actually were ok with abortion when it was "the law of the land", but now that it isn't, aren't still ok with it.

I'm used to thinking about the lying politicians who make that claim, rather than individual voters who might actually believe it

iowantwo said...

Democrat's manage by disaster ('Never let a disaster go to waste')

They have an agenda, then invent a disaster from thin air.

Dobbs did not change abortion law in any state. Suck the brains out of a baby skull before the torso is delivered is still legal. All the way to banning elective abortions at the first heart beat.

Since nothing changed, and Democrats agenda was to distract from the last two years of Democrat leadership awfulness. Bring in ABORTION....even though nothing changed.

Jaq said...

Tim Ryan-D, in a close Senate race in Ohio, has just backed off on support for “most late term abortions.”

Jaq said...

WW3 is a bigger issue than whether some woman in Oklahoma has to do a couple of extra steps to kill her baby. The Democrats tried a gambit that Republicans were not all in on the war, and the polls, anyway, seem to be breaking late for Republicans.

realestateacct said...

CNN is trying to convince those white suburban ladies they don't need to turn out to vote for the Republicans which they are reluctantly doing because of inflation and a weird desire to promote perverted sexual ideation in schools. They are saying "Look, you don't have too, the Repubs will win without you."

Rabel said...

I just got back from Kroger and if those voters have been buying groceries lately then they are ready to throw everybody out. Prices keep going up almost day by day and shelves were emptier than I've ever seen them.

Our idiot President said that if you people would just quit buying the food that comes in boxes and those fancy cereals like Post Toasties and Kellogg's Raisin Bran and buy the Great Value Gruel like his Pop used to then you'd have money left over at the end of the month.

Fuckers.

Earnest Prole said...

Democrats' "Democracy Hangs by a Thread" is their dopey version of Republicans' dopey "Flight 93 Election" but pitches like that only appeal to the already persuaded. Professional Democrats appear to be bent on wasting the last two weeks before Election Day obsessing over the meaningless insane attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, but I suppose if you know you're doomed it's a useful distraction.

stlcdr said...

Greg The Class Traitor said...
Thank you Althouse, you've given me something more to think about.

I think part of the "abortion voter suppression" is coming from people who were freaked out a "The GOP will ban all abortions", who then found out that the GOP generally is NOT fighting to ban all abortions, but the Democrats AR fighting to ban all abortion laws.


Pro-abortionists lie about this situation all the time. I live in KY where there is a constitutional amendment regarding abortion. The democrats are sayin no to this amendment because i5 constitutionally bans abortion. Lie. I have just received a flyer from protectkentucky.com saying “there’s an amendment that will permanently ban abortion”. Lie.

“Ballot text: Are you in favor of amending the Constitution of Kentucky by creating a new Section of the Constitution to be numbered Section 26A to state as follows: To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion?”

It is quite clear. Why can they not say what it means? Why lie and fearmonger? This is why democrats cannot be trusted. They lie, lie, lie about clear things (including basic math. This is why they also want to destroy education; keep the children ignorant and indoctrinated).

n.n said...

In cases other than rape, which are subject to criminal prosecution, conception happens with informed consent, her first choice, along with safe sanctuary and shared responsibility with the father in a civilized society.

Six weeks is a 3/5 compromise to mitigate social progress. First, they came for slavery, and the slavers cried. Then, they came for diversity (e.g. DIE doctrine), and the racists, sexists, ageists, classicists cried, too. Finally, they came for the witches and warlocks that sacrifice human lives for social, redistributive, clinical, and fair weather causes, and the abortionists said never again. Respect women, and girls, lose your Pro-Choice ethical religion.

Oh, and 80% of Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacares are unfunded, which along with Green deals, represent the majority of our deficit, and principal redistributive forcings of progressive prices ("inflation"). Education with progressive pries and returns. Criminals without sanctions. Coups with "benefits". Social liberalism through politically congruent constructs. Looking forward, looking backward.

Gahrie said...

As I told my wife today I think that the Biden administration may rank as the number one incompetent administration in our history.

Biden will take Buchanan's spot at number one for worst president ever.

n.n said...

Unfortunately, elective abortion like other instances of murder (i.e. in darkness, under a veil of privacy) is an "if you can get away with it" choice that in liberal regimes is sanctioned, celebrated, revered by the State: one-child under communism, selective-child under liberalism, no Jew left behind under socialism, wicked solutions to purportedly hard problems: "burdens" of evidence.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Were Trump now serving a second term, I think at least some of the difficulties we face now would still have happened (inflation comes to mind -- the president simply doesn't "run" the economy). And who knows where we'd be on COVID, how differently the vaccine rollouts would have gone in 2021 -- likely no mandates controversy. Would Trump have removed the troops from Afghanistan?”

You are correct that the President (or the cabal behind him) doesn’t run the country. BUT, Congress spending $Trillion$ That we don’t have, and the President (or the cabal behind him) signing the spending into law surely can. We have known for a half century or so now that inflation is a monetary phenomenon. Too much money chasing too few goods. And that primarily means the Federal Reserve funding the ($Trillion$) deficit. What the President and his Administration can do to make it worse is to destroy the value of sovereign US debt, forcing the Fed to finance our deficit, instead of the Chinese, and everyone else around the world, by destroying the value of the American dollar as the world reserve currency. And the FJB did that by, among other things, forcing other countries to pay for Russian oil with their rubles, instead of with our dollars.

n.n said...

No, Inflation Is NOT Over

Final Monthly Treasury Statement
Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government
For Fiscal Year 2022 Through September 30, 2022, and Other Periods


The Fed will slow down breaks and Congress stops thinking it can blow $2.067 trillion on Medicare and Medicaid in a fiscal year while collecting just $339 billion in tax to pay for that inflation is not done.

The evidence points to false price signals in an uncompetitive or anticompetitive ecosystem in a trickle-down economic model.

Big Mike said...

Additional thoughts.

(1) Today I saw a bumper sticker that ought to strike fear in the hearts of politicians of both parties. One word, all caps: ENOUGH

(2) What I'd like to know is the level of enthusiasm for voting exhibited by the Independents. Because I'll just bet it's much higher than it was four years ago, and directed against the people who set out with malice aforethought to wreck our economy while sending gas prices through the roof.

(3) The Democrats threw the working class out of their coalition in 2016, completing a process begun under Obama. Between 2018 and 2021 they told the Hispanic voters to go pound sand, and polls suggest that more than half of them have done just that. Lately they've been busy driving the "suburban soccer mommies" out of their coalition. And in the meantime they've decided that open anti-semitism, not even bothering to disguise it as anti-zionism, is okay because the Jewish component of their coalition will never leave them no how much they are abused. And the Asian members of their coalition (as if Indian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Korean-Americans, and Vietnamese-Americans are indistinguishable one from the other) are waking up to the fact that Democrats do not have the best interests of their children at heart. So just how big are the Democrats? And why should the components of that coalition that they are abusing even be enthusiastic?

RMc said...

Why are Detroit Lions fans so unenthusiastic about this season, or any season?

Because their teams suck, they know they suck, and there's nothing they can do about it.


Lions fan for 50+ years. Can confirm.

RMc said...

Why are Detroit Lions fans so unenthusiastic about this season, or any season?

Because their teams suck, they know they suck, and there's nothing they can do about it.


Lions fan for 50+ years. Can confirm.

Big Mike said...

Biden will take Buchanan's spot at number one for worst president ever.

@Gahrie, why the future tense. I think he already has, and he has two years and almost three weeks to go.

Bobb said...

The CNN article tells us that abortion is the top issue for 15% of likely voters and for 29% of Democratic likely voters.

Meaningless. The left, including its media, just think abortion is the top issue for supporters of abortion. Yet, many of those who say abortion is the top issue are pro-life, so the number of voter who make their top issue support of abortion is well less. For example, many Hispanic women are traditionally Catholic Democrats, yet are pro-life. This may, in part, underlie the large number of Catholic Democrats voting Republican this year. The failure to poll on this distinction makes using the issue meaningless.

Gahrie said...

Biden will take Buchanan's spot at number one for worst president ever.

@Gahrie, why the future tense. I think he already has, and he has two years and almost three weeks to go.


I'm a history teacher, and historians won't make that determination until after his term is over or he dies, whichever comes first.

As to my personal opinion, I think he's clearly in the bottom five worst presidents. (Buchanan, Wilson, FDR and Carter round out my bottom five)

I am somewhat tempted to cut him some slack, since I don't think he's been making decisions for himself for several years now. I sincerely believe that he's the victim of elder abuse. That doesn't excuse the lying asshole he's been his whole life, but it might excuse his presidency.

Big Mike said...

Sorry, at 8:52 that should have been “two years, two months,, and almost three weeks to go.”

Josephbleau said...

“Thank you for laying this out. Abortion is not an issue that is top of my mind, but I have this feeling that all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth is inappropriate to the actual difficulties imposed.“

The main difficulty imposed is that planned parenthood does not make money on contraception, abortion pills, and the sale of 12 week old baby parts. Since the Democrats serve their biggest contributors, they are aggressively on this issue. You don’t get a Porsche selling a tiny fetus.

Jamie said...

Yet, many of those who say abortion is the top issue are pro-life,

I was expecting someone to point this out way up-thread. Better late than never! Thanks, Bobb.

n.n said...

Yet, many of those who say abortion is the top issue are pro-life,

Many who say slavery is the top issue are pro-liberty. The 1/2 compromise no limited to "fetal-baby", "people of pink", is intended to mitigate social progress, as the 3/5 compromise once mitigated the progress of diversity and inclusion in a democratic climate with alien forcings and wicked intent.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

“Were Trump now serving a second term, I think at least some of the difficulties we face now would still have happened (inflation comes to mind -- the president simply doesn't "run" the economy). And who knows where we'd be on COVID, how differently the vaccine rollouts would have gone in 2021 -- likely no mandates controversy. Would Trump have removed the troops from Afghanistan?”

1: We'd still have some inflation, because Trump was never a "keep the spending down" kind of President.

But:
A: He wouldn't have gone to war with US gas production, so gas prices would be much lower. And gas prices were a big driver of inflation
B: The Dems multi-Trillion dollar laws wouldn't have been passed, cutting down on the monetary causes of inflation
C: The Trump Admin would have handled the supply chain crisis much more competently. In particular, the Transportation Secretary wouldn't have been off on "Paternity leave"

2: No "vaccine mandates". Lefties screaming about how they weren'going to take that evil "Trump vaccine". Since the shots becomes mostly useless for stopping the spread of Covid starting in Sept of 2021, no real changes on the Covid front

3: Trump would have pulled out from Afghanistan competently, not leaving billions of dollars of military weapons behind for the Taliban, not having the "last helicopter out of Saigon" scenes in Kabul

4: Putin would never have dared to invade Ukraine

DINKY DAU 45 said...

doesn't anyone up in here know the history of midterm elections since WW 11? It's very simple TO RESEARCH IT, if you know how to use a computer JUST GOOGLE the search bar with the subject. The party of the incumbent president tends to lose ground during midterm elections: since World War II, the President's party has lost an average of 26 seats in the House, and an average of four seats in the Senate. WHAT IS THE DEBATE? to hear yourself talk? c'mon man.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

DINKY DAU 45 said...
since World War II, the President's party has lost an average of 26 seats in the House, and an average of four seats in the Senate. WHAT IS THE DEBATE? to hear yourself talk? c'mon man.

And this year it will be more than that in the House, and probably more than that in the Senate