It's unsurprising that Democrats face an uphill battle in voter enthusiasm as November's midterms approach — just look at the party's top-ranking official, President Biden. But among issues that elected Democrats and mainstream pundits have insisted will close the enthusiasm gap, the opposite is turning out to be true.
According to new polling from The Washington Post, the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs — which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned decisions on protecting the unborn to Americans and their elected representatives — has not become a rallying call that's fired up Democrats to get out and vote. To put a point on the situation, WaPo writes in their piece on the poll that "those who support abortion access are less certain they will vote this fall."
Americans who look favorably on the decision overturning Roe are 18 percentage points more likely to vote in the midterms — 70% compared with 52% of those who see the decision as a loss for women. ??@KnowlesHannah? ?@EmGusk? ?@sfcpoll? https://t.co/gEY0IdGOoy
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 30, 2022
On the other side of the equation, pro-life Americans are turning out to be even more motivated to vote in the 2022 midterm elections, likely because the push to overturn Roe was always about giving Americans a voice — via their vote — in the discussion about what protections should be in place to protect the lives and rights of the unborn. Now that Roe is gone, the voices of pro-life Americans, especially those who list the right to life as a major or single-issue for which they vote, will be heard and matter when it comes to protecting life for the first time in decades this November.
Here's the gist of what The Post's poll found:
Those who reject the idea that the court’s ruling is a loss for women are 18 percentage points more likely to express certainty they will vote in the midterms — 70 percent compared with 52 percent of those who do see such a loss.
And the numbers of Americans who say they're certain they'll vote in November, across the board, paint a dire picture for Democrats clinging to hope that they'll retain majorities in Congress after the midterms. At the basic partisan level, 74 percent of Republicans say they'll vote in November while just 62 percent of Democrats say the same. Americans who believe abortion should be illegal are more certain to vote (66 percent) than those who say it should be legal (55 percent).
For voters, Biden's inflation crisis still ranks as the most pressing issue on their minds — a problem to which the president's party continues to bungle any response. The greatest number of voters surveyed, 39 percent, rated "rising prices" as the "most important issue" while 31 percent cited "abortion," 23 percent said "crime," and 20 percent listed "immigration."
And it doesn't seem like Americans' economic woes will be a fading in the remaining four months of the midterm election cycle given the latest GDP read showing the U.S. officially in a recession and Democrats' latest attempt to take action, the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," won't even move the needle on inflation, as Townhall reported earlier this week.
But especially for those who are motivated by their opinions on abortion, the pro-life crowd seems set to run circles around their pro-abortion counterparts.