In a deep Red State, Tuesday’s surprising victory for abortion rights supporters in Kansas offered some of the most compelling evidence so far that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has transformed the political landscape. The “NO” victory in Kansas–a 59-41 margin in a Republican stronghold–suggests that the Religious Right and their GOP allies may have miscalculated in their strategy to ban abortion in the United States.
The Kansas vote infers that around 65% of voters nationwide would reject a similar initiative to roll back abortion rights. That translates into about 40 of the 50 states being hostile to attempts to ban all abortions. If abortion rights wins 59% support in a state like Kansas, abortion rights groups could do even better than that in Purple and Blue States.
I also think this result in Kansas shows that GOP’s hostility to Women’s Rights will backfire on them when it comes to taking back rights and mandating women give birth even when rape and/or incest is involved. Stripping women of medical protections and violating their rights represents a political leap into the Dark Ages. What do you think?
The heavy-handedness (to put it politely) of the Republican far-right (which dominates the party (including their SCUSA members), obviously, at the moment to even a greater degree than the neoliberals dominate the Democratic Party) will probably have some effect on the elections, as opposed to the plebiscites, but the question remains if the US House and state district gerrymandering by the RP, which they have been able to achieve in part because neoliberal DPers chose not to focus on keeping strong local/state parties as opposed to the more donor-intense national races over the last couple of decades, with very rare exceptions…which have not helped party nor nation…bu did leave the DP leadership with large warchests, and allowed them to marginalize, as much as possible, the more progressive Dems.
My suspicion is that the DP will retain the US Senate, perhaps gain at least one seat (PA), and that the House might indeed be in the hands of the RP, though by less a margin than they hoped for before they began throwing their bigotry around ahead of any rational explanation of their policies (or attempts at policy when shouted by the Tumples). Packing the SCUSA by 2+ might need to be performed.
And the attempts to strip women of their autonomy, too successful so far when not in the hands of actual voters, are indeed obscene. Inasmuch as they are enmeshed in the panoply of reaction the GOP has been pushing, claims of Actual Concern for anyone don’t ring true. I can only imagine some of the more principled opponents of abortion rights can’t be as happy as they might be…again, to say the least.
Todd, wonderful political analysis! The Democrats need to turn out the youth vote in the 2022 Mid-term elections. Climate change and abortion rights might be two issues that would engage that segment of the voters.
Well put, George!
Dan, regardless of gender, MY BODY, MY CHOICE should be law in the USA. John Stuart Mill advocated it 200 years ago and it still makes sense today.
Politicians putting party over principle is nothing new. It has happened and continues to happen on both sides. Today, however, one party has no principles and, in this instance, has determined that over half the population essentially has no right other than to be subservient and to shut up about it. Their we-know-better-than-you attitude is not based on science, logic, or even common human decency but appears to be rooted in their ego-inflated narcissism. Politics is now nothing more than a game to be won rather than a privilege to serve your fellow man. Trump did not start this but he allowed the floodgates to open for the yahoos, con men, bigots, and sexually repressed men to come charging in. Women, children, the poor. and minorities are the worse for it, but we all will suffer because of this attitude.
People still believe (and support) Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy when they spout their hatred, lies. and obfuscations. Matt Gaetz and Marorie Taylor Green continue to have great support when all logic says they and their ilk should have been laughed out of politics a long time ago. The GOP played the long game in destroying democracy through gerrymandering, packing the courts, and paying attention to local races. It has paid off for them. The issue of controlling a woman’s body may help galvanize the loyal opposition, but I fear it is too little, too late.
Jerry, the fact that political opportunists like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green can still attract enough voters to win provides credence to your last point. But, Hope springs eternal in the Kelley household!
This trend to go back a hundred years in time (women’s rights, separation of religion and state etc) we find also in Europe.
The most horrifying example happened last year in Poland whose ruling party PIS (I call them the PISsers …) is very religious.
A woman was expecting twins. For some reason one of the twins lost its life functions – but the clinic did not allow an abortion.
In the end all three died …
A bit OT:
Anyway it’s crazy how the right wing in East Europe (well, Poland and Hungary claim to be part of Central Europe, but …) look up to the GOP but it works the other way round too.
Right now CPAC has a happening in Austin and Hungary’s right wing prime minister Orbán gave a talk too. Orbán also had a meeting with Trump!
And now for some fun:
Tucker Carlson who also spoke seems to be still angry at Jon Stewart so Stewart replied with a really bad, bad joke so I won’t quote it – though my wife and I had a good laugh.
You’ll find it googling “Jon Stewart Carlson Orbán” – Enjoy!
Wolf, FOX NEWS groomed Tucker Carlson for his role as provocateur. Every conspiracy theory finds a home on his program along with ginning up the audience that the U.S. is about to be invaded by refugees on the Southern Border. Carlson manages to provide his views with political “red meat” on a regular basis.
“about to be invaded”? Look again.
Bob, FOX NEWS thinks the refugees are carriers of Monkeypox.
I’ve pretty much reached the point where I don’t have anything left to say about this. I think of the former friends I no longer speak to and family members I no longer acknowledge. Every time I turn on the tv I see commercials for Herschel Walker, absolutely the dumbest piece of shit ever to run for the Senate. This guy makes Louie Gohmert look like a MENSA member. It looks like Senator Warnock will beat him, but I’m not counting on it. Republicans love dumbasses. The sane have to celebrate rare good news like the Kansas result, but good outcomes are few and far between.
Michael, dumbass candidates are easy to manipulate. I suspect Herschel Walker took too many hits to the head over his career. Diane and I have had some family and friends go to the Dark Side of politics, too.
Aside from Walker’s own stumbles, I suspect that at least the hardcore racists in the GA GOP will not be willing to vote for even him, even against another and not particularly leftist Democrat who is also of African descent. Warnock I suspect will keep his seat.
I sure hope Abrams wins the governorship, but we’ll see how well voter suppression works this time.
I took some joy in the Kansas vote because the state’s voter registration is 75%-25% Republicans to Democrats, so plenty of Republicans had to have voted to supports women’s bodily autonomy. However, we know the GOP never sleeps on defeats or takes away the correct lessons (which in this case would be let women control their own reproductive destiny) and instead will figure out a way to weasel around majority opinions. For example, several GOP-dominated state legislatures are in the process of introducing bills that would allow the legislature to override election results if there’s “evidence of fraud” (yeah, right); and we already know there have been cases of state GOP election officials around the country refusing to certify elections that were won by Dems. The Kansas vote is one tiny flicker of hope in a very dark landscape: I’m happy about it, but I’m still not too optimistic about what it portends for November.
Deb, the Republicans are masters of strategies to get voters to vote AGAINST their best interests. But voting to have the rights over your own body in the hands of the State is a bridge too far for many people. The Democrats had the votes to protect Roe v. Wade after Obama won in 2008 but neglected to pass legislation in Congress. This state by state nonsense leaves a lot of room for GOP hanky-panky.
Obama was a master of Not Getting Enough Done, which allowed McConnell and his crew, and those whom even he despises eventually, to swoop in.
Todd, Mitch McConnell was the architect of blocking all of Obama’s legislation. Remember when Moscow Mitch said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” And not passing anything Obama wanted was McConnell’s strategy, especially not allowing Obama to have Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court.
Yes, if played right, I do think it will backfire this November. On the other hand, Indiana went ahead and passed a near-total ban on abortions yesterday, so some people just aren’t paying attention or Just Don’t Care. As Deb has said, women’s autonomy is not something the Republican Party believes in. I know people used to think The Handmaid’s Tale was an exaggeration, but I am equally sure that for people like Mike Pence, it’s an ideal . If women don’t come out and vote in massive numbers this Fall, they will have themselves to blame for the consequences, but I do believe the turnout will be huge (at least by Midterm election standards).
Hey, when the Supreme Court is using 1868 (over 50 years before women got the right to vote!) as their baseline, is it any surprise this is the result?
PS – Nice picture of Diane.
Jeff, Diane always models well! So does Deb! The recent FBI news on Justice Kavanaugh reinforces what most of us believe about him.
What Deb said. Right now Republicans are working to prevent businesses from using green fuels in many states. That is almost as sickening as the abortion legislation. The SCOTUS cares not a whit what the people want. So their decisions will continually undo any good voters can do.
Patti, Moscow Mitch packed the Supreme Court with his minions and now we’re all paying the price!
I’m confident women in every state will be voting in November. Based on all the guys on this blog, all intelligent men will vote too
We live in the only Republican district in NYC. The dems did try to redistrict but lost in court. We were devastated but this evil anti-woman, anti-abortion, dark ages move by the MAGA party has given us real hope that Max Rose will be taking down the evil Trump loving Nicole Malliotakis for Congress.
Every vote counts in November!
Jackie
Jackie, all the gerrymandering hinders political change. The packed courts block a lot of progressive legislation. Those who opt out of the political process are still subject to its whims. My main concern with politics in America is Dark Money. Someone–China, Russia, North Korea, Iran–is funding these creeps:
Worst Senator
60% Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Known for: blocking Merrick Garland from the Supreme Court, saying it was too late; elevating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, saying there was plenty of time.
17% Ted Cruz, Texas
Known for: insurrection inciter; Cancún vacationer (as Texans died of Covid-19); universal scorn of colleagues.
10% Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
Known for: being dumbest person in the Senate; defending Capitol rioters as patriots and saying that if they had been from Black Lives Matter, “I might have been a little concerned” for safety—then denying any “racial” element to his comments. And don’t forget his “pretend” phone call.
10% Josh Hawley, Missouri
Known for: fist-pumping the January 6 insurrectionists; Ivy League populism; desperate pursuit of presidency. And running away from the January 6th rioters!
4% Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
Known for: blowing a gasket at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing; sucking up to Trump after lightly criticizing him. And visiting Taiwan…and China didn’t care.
Rest assured, the GOP will continue its campaign of cruelty and anarchy in ways we haven’t even begun to recognize, although we have hints in Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs, the outcome of the GOP gubernatorial primary in Arizona, Greg Abbott’s loathsome stunt in busing immigrants to NY and DC, and the free publicity that the media continues to offer Trump. Never mind imminent Senator Herschel Walker and AZ Gov. Kari Lake . . . how about Supreme Court Justices Herschel Walker and Kari Lake?
Fred, you’re right that the GOP won’t stop their campaign of cruelty to women and minorities. They will do anything to gain Power–lies, fake news, critical race theory, woke philosophy, and incompetent nominees, nothing is off-the-table to con gullible voters.
Everyone has made wonderful comments. 100% in favor of a womans right to choose. I’m personally not in favor of abortion, but all that means is I wouldn’t have one. It doesn’t mean I have a right to inflict my opinion on anyone else. It’s a horrible decision to have to make and shouldn’t be made without a lot of thought, and heartache. I’m proud of my birth state, and confess to being very surprised.
The comments on the GOP are spot on. Nasty people who convince their followers to vote against their best interests and benefit.
Maggie—I’m glad you noted that a person can personally oppose choosing abortion for themselves while still acknowledging that other people have the right to make that choice. I’m firmly in the Boomer camp—I was 15 when Roe v. Wade was handed down—and I’ve known my share of women who elected to terminate a pregnancy. None of them took that step lightly, none of them were overjoyed at having an abortion, but all of them realized that having a baby AT THAT MOMENT was basically impossible for them. Almost every woman I’ve known who had an abortion went on to have children later in life when circumstances were different for them. No one is making people who are morally-opposed to abortion have one; they should extend the reverse courtesy to women who do need one.
Deb, I have always believed that an abortion decision should be made by the woman and her doctor. Period.
Maggie, the polarization of politics in the U.S. confounds me. Things weren’t this way when I was growing up. The Dems and the GOP worked together more or less. The change happened in the 1990s when Newt Gingrich weaponized the Republicans and FOX NEWS became their propaganda arm.
The ONLY thing the Supreme Court did was kick the abortion issue back to the states. It’s up to them to decide whether to allow abortions and on what terms. That’s it. All this breast beating is just so much hot air.
Bob, it’s not Hot Air to that 10 year-old girl who was raped in Ohio and had to go to Indiana to get an abortion. Indiana just passed legislation to ban all abortions. I would think you would not be favor of the Supreme Court or State governments taking rights away from women–or anyone else.