Issue animated conservatives for 50 years but has tormented Republicans since the fall of Roe – and it’s unclear also whether it will continue to fuel Democratic victories
As the 2024 election season ramps up, Republicans continue to struggle to find a winning national strategy on the flashpoint issue of abortion – where restricting the procedure has animated the conservative movement for half a century but tormented the party since the fall of Roe.
The supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade delivered Republicans one of their most significant policy victories in a generation. But in the year and a half since the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the ruling has also become one of their biggest political vulnerabilities.
Over the last 18 months, voters have favored abortion rights in seven consecutive ballot measures, including in conservative states. Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections while Democrats scored off-year election wins in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Virginia – results that again emphasized the enduring power of abortion rights.
Now the presidential election year brings a further huge test.
Yep. Give us a gigantic two-handed war cudgel, literally hand it to us, and then complain when we bludgeon you with it every election cycle until we get the Supreme Court back.
Sounds about right. Not too good at that long-term thinking stuff, are they? Authoritarians seldom are, too focused on image instead of substance, and eventually start falling for their own bullshit.
They have spent decades packing courts with ideologically aligned judges