I will give credit where credit is due, even to people I don't like. Biden, for example, has done well in Ukraine. I will give him that. He's a turd of a human being and he butchers pretty much everything he touches, but in Ukraine he did well. Granted, it was the only thing he could do that made sense and didn't result in disaster, but that doesn't always stop him. So good for him.
Another person I would give credit to that I don't normally support is Lindsay Graham. Graham's mention of a national ban on abortion at 15 weeks seemed like terrible timing when he mentioned it. The GOP was going down in flames on the abortion issue and he seemed to only add gasoline to the fire... But in hindsight, what he did was actually kind of brilliant. Even though his plan was roundly denounced on all sides, it has given GOP candidates an abortion position they could mention that didn't make them sound nuts. You see it being mentioned everywhere to neuter the nut issue.
It's also flipped the narrative. Instead of GOP candidates needing to answer why they wanted victims of rape to be forced to carry pregnancies to term, suddenly, GOP candidates were demanding to know what restrictions the Democrats would agree to if not the 15 weeks. Lo and behold, Democrats fell for it. People like Stacy Abrahms boldly claimed they wanted no restrictions - ZERO - and promptly fell far outside the mainstream. I actually think you can link her peaking in the polls and subsequent slide with that moment. She's been crashing ever since.
Other GOP candidates are demanding the same answer and Democrats are either shooting themselves in the genitals with their purity and answering it, or going into evasive maneuvers and running from the issue. Suddenly, both the intensity of the issue and the importance of the issue began to fail. It's now viewed as a motivating factor for something like 14% of voters only, and I would bet they had already made their minds up long before the Supreme Court's abortion surprise. Even party higher ups like Obama and Sanders are urging them to stop talking about abortion... in public at least.
I think Graham did the GOP a huge favor on this.
Thoughts?
Another person I would give credit to that I don't normally support is Lindsay Graham. Graham's mention of a national ban on abortion at 15 weeks seemed like terrible timing when he mentioned it. The GOP was going down in flames on the abortion issue and he seemed to only add gasoline to the fire... But in hindsight, what he did was actually kind of brilliant. Even though his plan was roundly denounced on all sides, it has given GOP candidates an abortion position they could mention that didn't make them sound nuts. You see it being mentioned everywhere to neuter the nut issue.
It's also flipped the narrative. Instead of GOP candidates needing to answer why they wanted victims of rape to be forced to carry pregnancies to term, suddenly, GOP candidates were demanding to know what restrictions the Democrats would agree to if not the 15 weeks. Lo and behold, Democrats fell for it. People like Stacy Abrahms boldly claimed they wanted no restrictions - ZERO - and promptly fell far outside the mainstream. I actually think you can link her peaking in the polls and subsequent slide with that moment. She's been crashing ever since.
Other GOP candidates are demanding the same answer and Democrats are either shooting themselves in the genitals with their purity and answering it, or going into evasive maneuvers and running from the issue. Suddenly, both the intensity of the issue and the importance of the issue began to fail. It's now viewed as a motivating factor for something like 14% of voters only, and I would bet they had already made their minds up long before the Supreme Court's abortion surprise. Even party higher ups like Obama and Sanders are urging them to stop talking about abortion... in public at least.
I think Graham did the GOP a huge favor on this.
Thoughts?
Jed here - Interesting on Graham.although I’m not sure this was his thinking. Still, it worked, but it will only matter if these races are won. . Saw a headline today that said, Russia more likely to negotiate if R’s take Congress. Would you agree?
ReplyDeleteHi Jed, We will see.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think the Russians are less likely to negotiate then. As a general rule, the Congress isn't what foreigners watch. They almost always watch the President because he is seen as the decision maker for us... unless the Congress ties his hands. With some in the GOP talking about cutting off the Ukraine, I can't see Putin coming to the table if the Congress is looking to neuter his enemy. So I think he would wait to see if political pressure here can undo our support.
Here's an article backing up the idea that the abortion issue has turned against the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteLINK
It doesn't link it to Graham, but that is where the "what restrictions would you accept?" argument came from.