ICYMI: Two years after the end of Roe, abortion is still tripping up Republicans in key races [NBC News]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

NBC News: Two years after the end of Roe, abortion is still tripping up Republicans in key races
By Bridget Bowman, Adam Edelman and Henry J. Gomez
September 25, 2024

• Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno’s comments that abortion is not an issue, “especially for women that are, like, past 50,” are the latest fodder for Democratic attacks.

• Republicans are still struggling to navigate the issue of abortion as they face a barrage of Democratic attacks, with Ohio GOP Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno’s latest comments — suggesting it is not an issue, “especially for women that are, like, past 50” — underscoring the party’s continuing challenges.

• Republican strategists warn that comments like Moreno’s aren’t helpful as he tries to defeat a well-known senator in Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown.

• “Bernie oof,” one Republican who works on Senate races texted after the Moreno story broke Monday. 

• Another Republican strategist who has worked in Ohio said that “Ohio voters keenly focused on abortion access as a top issue have long since made up their mind on how they’re voting in November.” But the strategist added, “That said, those of us hoping to take back the Senate would sleep a lot better if Bernie exercised an ounce of discipline and refrained from a closing message geared toward boosting Sherrod Brown’s limited strengths.”

• And former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley issued her blunt assessment on X, writing, “Are you trying to lose the election?”

• The blow-up comes as Democrats have been hammering Republicans across the country on the abortion issue…and amid some GOP concern about whether the party has proactively addressed voter concerns about abortion policy enough in this campaign.

• In the seven most competitive Senate races, Democratic campaigns and outside groups launched 33 TV ads on abortion just in the last week, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Just one Republican ad, a Spanish-language spot from an outside group…mentioned abortion.

• Moreno’s comments could provide more fodder for those spots, which are expected to continue through Election Day.

• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia also said in a statement, “On record and on video, Republican Senate candidates continue to show voters just how out-of-touch they are on one of the defining issues of this election.”

• Democrats successfully deployed a similar strategy in 2022, when they defied expectations and kept control of the Senate…Some Republicans warned that the party’s failure to counter abortion attacks cost them crucial seats that year.

• In 2022, exit polling found Democrats had an 11-point advantage on the issue of abortion. 

• The challenge for the GOP, said Republican strategist Gail Gitcho, “is not falling into the same trap of what happened in 2022. And what happened in 2022 was Republicans didn’t do anything to respond on abortion. Nothing.” 

• GOP Senate candidates have been slow to proactively talk about the issue so far.

• Meanwhile, constitutional amendments that would protect or expand abortion rights are set to appear on the general election ballot in 10 states, including four with pivotal Senate contests — Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Montana.

• In theory, the placement of those ballot measures, which all seek to enshrine abortion rights through fetal viability, puts the issue even more front and center in those states — on the airwaves and in Democratic campaign messaging. 

• Moreno’s latest remarks aren’t an isolated faux pas.

• During his primary last year, he falsely claimed that a ballot measure enshrining the right to abortion care in the state constitution (the measure passed last November) would let a rapist “force” a woman to get an abortion — helping Democrats make the case that he is particularly extreme on the issue.

• Now, his new comments bring the issue back to the forefront.

• At a town hall this month, Moreno said, “The left has a lot of single-issue voters. Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK, a little crazy, by the way. But, especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, I don’t think that’s an issue for you. Oh, thank God my wife didn’t hear that one, I was going to get in trouble,” according to video obtained by NBC News and first reported by NBC affiliate WCMH in Columbus.

• Democrats have seized on Moreno’s comments, with Brown’s campaign contrasting them with Ohioans’ support for a state constitutional amendment nearly protecting access to abortion, which easily passed last year.

• “Moreno clearly thinks he knows better than Ohioans and his comments are insulting to everyone who believes a woman’s healthcare decisions should be between her and her doctor,” Brown spokesperson Reeves Oyster said in a statement.

See also: GOPonabortion.com; Senate Republicans AGAIN Block Legislation to Protect Reproductive Freedom; ICYMI: Republicans’ Pasts Haunt Them As They Rush To Support Reproductive Rights They Put In Harm’s Way [Talking Points Memo]; HuffPost: GOP Senate Recruits Back The Same Extreme Abortion Positions That Cost The Party In 2022. 

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