Matteo: How important will the abortion issue be for the midterm elections?

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Prior to the revelation of Supreme Court Justice Alito’s brief about overturning Roe v. Wade, most Democrats were dreading the midterm elections.  Even the staunchest democratic supporters have been noticeably silent about the party’s chances in the November midterm elections.  On the heels of President Biden’s disastrous economic and international policies that include rampant inflation, chaos at the border, an impending recession, the Afghanistan debacle, loss of respect internationally and the very unpopular support for the Disinformation Governance Board, as well as dismal approval rate numbers, polls have shown that the 2022 midterm elections will be devastating for the democratic party. 

It is very difficult to argue any support for the Biden presidency and its negative impact on the average American.  Some will blame Donald Trump, a tactic that has been used in a tiresome way, and most Americans see it as an excuse for Biden’s incompetence.  Others will attempt to spin it and lie about the dismal GDP numbers, record inflation and the ridiculous assertion made by Jen Psaki that inflation should be blamed on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  However, in light of all this bad news for the democrats, recent events have focused the spotlight on abortion, which could be a deal-breaker for some voters.  

A Gallup Poll showing demographic tables for 2018-2021 revealed the following views about abortion: (1016 interviews done)

49% of US adults identified as pro-choice

47% of US adults identified as pro-life (approximately 5% had no opinion) 

52% of women interviewed identified as pro-choice 

43% of women identified as pro-life (approximately 5% had no opinion)

22% of republicans identified as pro-choice 

74% of republicans identified as pro-life (4% had no opinion)

70% of democrats identified as pro-choice, 26% as pro-life and 4% had no opinion.  

Pro-choice independents surveyed stated they were 53% pro-choice, 43% pro-life (6% had no opinion)  

The numbers suggest that this issue is significant, however, the question is whether or not one issue will be enough to persuade voters in November to vote for democrats in spite of all the damage done by the Biden administration?  A rational person who is pro-choice, may look at the numbers and disagree with conservative Supreme Court members’ attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade, but will see the big picture and realize that the economic conditions of the nation are being greatly impacted by what is being done by the executive branch and vote for republicans as a backlash to President Biden’s policies.  Yet, because abortion is such a sensitive and highly personal topic, some may ignore all other issues and vote against republicans.  One post I read on Facebook expressed this view succinctly by stating that she believes 70% of Americans supported abortion rights and wrote that Americans should “VOTE Democrats into office everywhere! Do Not sit out the midterms!”  It is this kind of sentiment that could pose problems for what had appeared to be many easy congressional victories for Republicans in November.  Of course, this is only one person’s opinion, but the magnitude of emotions in voting can have a major bearing on an election.  We saw this in the previous election when a president with a good economy was voted out of office because of his “mean” tweets in favor of a bumbling, invisible candidate in mental decline.  

It is very curious that this leak occurred during one of the most egregious assaults on free speech by the Biden administration, which was the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board, a body that is reminiscent for most people as the realization of an Orwellian nightmare, the Ministry of Truth.  Suddenly all attention has turned away from these issues and the focus became outrage that the Supreme Court would make abortion a state’s rights issue and manipulation of facts has convinced many potential voters that the leaked documents indicate that abortion would then be illegal, which is untrue.  Instantly, democrats used this as an opportunity to vilify the Supreme Court, Republicans and anyone with pro-life views about the abortion issue.  There were suggestions of packing the court, and the home addresses of conservative justices were leaked.  This is not democracy, it is tyranny.  There is no doubt that this will be a major campaign point for any democrat who runs in the mid-term elections, who are hoping to win elections based upon this lone issue.  

Fear is a powerful motivating force in politics that is used by both parties and propaganda machines are hard at work to promote themselves as good and the other as evil.  President Biden’s comments that tied the Alito leak to segregating LGBQT… children in schools, impacting same-sex and interracial marriages is an absurd jump from reality and it is intended to enflame and mischaracterize the issue.  It is this kind of disingenuous rhetoric that illustrates the fear factor involved in what people are told.  In the minds of many staunch pro-choice advocates this issue alone will determine how they will vote in November.  One thing for sure is that there will be a plethora of democratic candidate advertisements that will seek to evoke fear in voting for republicans, and will target women because they are directly impacted by any changes to abortion laws through precedents.

If one were to look at the issues of the nation, and objectively realize that the Biden presidency has sided with woke progressives, caused inflation through very bad monetary policies, used the FBI to label parents as domestic terrorists when all these parents wanted was to protect their children from biased, unproven and damaging ideas being proposed in classrooms around the country, left billions of dollars in military equipment to a terrorist regime in Afghanistan,  failed to protect the border from hordes of illegal aliens (many of whom are criminals), proposed the idea that hard-working Americans must pay for the debts of college students who thought it was a good idea to borrow large amounts of money and major in subjects that would not help them get a decent salaried job, challenged states who supported parental rights, produced dismal GDP numbers, and has recorded some of the worst approval ratings of any president who has ever sat in the oval office vs abortion, the decision should be an easy one, but it’s not for many voters. 

In 2020, it’s obvious that more people voted against Donald Trump than they did vote because of their enthusiasm for a Biden presidency. The midterm elections are still 6 months away, and there will be a lot of political posturing between now and then.  Despite predictions that this will be an indictment of where President Biden has failed, and therefore, an easy win for most republican candidates, it is prudent to understand that emotions and emotional issues, such as the abortion issue, could derail these plans. 

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