Abortion, abortion, abortion.
That’s all the Democrats are talking about in the waning days of the 2022 midterm campaigns.
But if they’re paying attention to the polls, they’ll realize that the 1992 presidential campaign motto of Bill Clinton rings true now more than ever: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
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“A lot of these consultants think if all we do is run abortion spots that will win for us. I don’t think so,” James Carville, who ran Clinton’s campaign and coined the motto, said last week. “It’s a good issue. But if you just sit there and they’re pummeling you on crime and pummeling you on the cost of living, you’ve got to be more aggressive than just yelling abortion every other word.”
A poll earlier this month laid out the issues Americans most want Biden to focus on.
Economy — 55%
Employment/Jobs — 24%
Immigration — 21%
Environment — 16%
Unifying Country — 15%
Corruption — 12%
COVID-19 — 9%
Racial Inequality — 8%
International Trade — 2%
Other — 5%
Notice what’s missing? Abortion.
What’s more, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) says Democrats are missing the point on crime as they overhype their support of abortion.
“People actually think the Democrats are more extreme in their eagerness to kill babies than Republicans are in their desire to save babies,” he told The Epoch Times. “Their activists are so intense, and so rabid, and their activists have been giving money, it feels like it’s a good issue for them. But when you go out to the country beyond the hard left of the Democratic Party, it’s in fact, not working for them at all.”
Abortion is “not helping Democrats as much as they think,” Gingrich said.
A Monmouth University poll this month found inflation is “extremely or very important” for 82% of Americans, but Biden’s approval rating on the issue is just 30%. Crime is second at 72%, but Biden’s handling is 32%. And immigration comes in at 67% for voters, but the president’s approval rating is 31%.
“Democrats are all over the place when it comes to their key issues. This makes it difficult for the party to create a cohesive messaging strategy to motivate its base. Republicans, on the other hand, just have to hammer away at rising prices and ‘the wolf is at the door’ to get their voters riled up,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
“A major problem for Democrats is their base messaging doesn’t hold as much appeal for independents as the GOP issue agenda does. Even though truly persuadable independents are a rather small group these days, this small difference can have a major impact given the expectation that congressional control will hinge on a handful of very close contests,” Murray said.
Then again, the Democrats don’t have much to say about their efforts to repair the economy so badly damaged by President Joe Biden, do they?
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.