Contrary to popular belief, “Democracy” was not on the ballot yesterday.
Abortion was.
In five states, pregnancy termination was a referendum decided literally by the electorate. In others, it was implicit—but it was there.
Like flies to honey, the highly controversial issue drew to the polls liberal women who may have otherwise stayed home this year. And it cost the Republican Party several key races.
Take Michigan, for instance. It’s hard to fathom Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection just two years after she forced upon her state some of the nation’s most draconian coronavirus measures.
Remember when Michigan residents were barred from purchasing gardening supplies? Because it was deemed “non-essential?”
Or when citizens were ordered into lockdown, but it was perfectly fine for Whitmer’s husband to embark on a boating jaunt?
Whitmer dripped in Planned-Parenthood magenta and donned a “BANS OFF OUR BODIES” broach during her acceptance speech last night.
It doesn’t matter that small business owners had to close their doors. Or that children are years behind in their education.
It’s not that citizens forgot the tyrannical Whitmer Reign.
Gretchen Whitmer was Michigan’s Legal Abortion Candidate. That’s why she won last night.
Now, the sorriest excuse for a Senate race took place in Pennsylvania, where New Jerseyan television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz was bested by a green-energy socialist in a hoodie who, since May, rarely spoke to crowds on the campaign trail.
Dr. Oz’s site describes him as “100% Pro-Life.” However, he stated his support abortion for instances of rape and incest at that trainwreck of a debate last month, which means he is about 97% Pro-Life, aligning with the 1990s Democrat stance on abortion: safe, legal and rare.
Whatever. Oz skirted the cultural issue whenever he could and instead ran on crime, energy independence, and gas prices. These were winning issues for the GOP, and this would have been fine if his opponent were also quiet about abortion—but that was certainly not the case.
Recall: “John Fetterwoman!”
It doesn’t matter that Fetterman will fight to end fracking in a shale oil state. Or that he plans to fight for open-prison policies. Or that he struggles forming a coherent sentence.
John Fetterman was Pennsylvania’s Legal Abortion Candidate. That’s why he won last night.
Now, Oz ran a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad campaign. But his downfall, as well as those of other Republican Senate candidates who ran very respectable campaigns, was aided and abetted by national GOP leadership, specifically Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Old Crow Mitch sought to keep the GOP quiet on cultural issues with the hope that every pro-choicer would see the grocery bill and cast her vote accordingly. Or, don’t poke the bear, and the bear will forget there’s an election.
Wishful thinking. Running on the economy while entirely ignoring the left’s contraception frenzy was not enough.
Especially since other Republicans were plunging the party into political suicide. It’s hard to see a motive other than self-sabotage in Lindsey Graham’s nation-wide abortion ban bill, for instance. Could he have stoked the fearmongering flames any more effectively?
Voters see their cost of living increase. They feel inflation. They’ve checked their 401Ks. But the Democratic Party has successfully convinced liberal women—and, by association, the men with whom they surround themselves—that abortion is a fundamental right, that the absence of it will set the clock back a half-century, that it trumps all other political issues.
Abortion isn’t why Republicans lost. But it is why Democrats won.
The GOP should have the upper hand on crucial cultural concerns: radical gender ideology, obscenity in schools and parental rights in immunization. In some states, like Florida and Ohio, candidates ran confidently on these issues and did very well. In other states, where depravity in the culture should have driven the debate (Massachusetts, I’m looking at you), candidates flaked.
Abortion brought out voters yesterday, and GOP oversight on its weight was detrimental.