What They’re Saying: GOP Senate Candidates Have “Made A Lot Of Mistakes” On Abortion As “Democrats Have Seized On” McConnell’s Call For National Ban

New reporting today from The 19th News and McClatchy is highlighting how GOP Senate candidates have “made a lot of mistakes” talking about abortion, as “Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that Republicans could pursue federal legislation to ban abortion everywhere has supplied potent political ammunition to Democrats.”

See for yourself:

The 19th News: GOP Senate candidates don’t really want to talk about abortion
By Amanda Becker
July 7, 2022

• In Nevada, GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a “historic victory” for the anti-abortion movement.

• In Wisconsin, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson acknowledged in May that things could get a “little messy” for some people who need abortions. But, he said, they can still drive across state lines to Illinois, so abortion wouldn’t be “the big political issue everybody thinks it is” come November.

• In Ohio, J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for an open Senate seat, said the country is entering a “new phase of the pro-life movement,” quoted from the Christian Bible, and decried the world view that it is “bad for women to become mothers but liberating for them to work 90 hours a week in a cubicle.”

• After the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Laxalt, Johnson and Vance all praised the ruling ending nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights. Then, they pivoted back to talking about other issues.

• “In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, it’s pretty clear the Democrats are the ones who want to be talking about abortion, and the Republicans don’t,” said Kyle Kondik with Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

• The Democrats’ Senate campaign arm, however, warned that if Republicans retake control of Congress, they will try to pass a national ban. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told USA TODAY they could “certainly legislate in that area.” Sen. Marco Rubio, on the ballot in Florida, has introduced a bill that would prevent businesses from taking tax deductions for reimbursing employees for travel costs to obtain abortions. He has also said the Biden administration should not provide sick leave for federal workers to get abortion care.

• “GOP Senate candidates spent months campaigning on overturning Roe v. Wade, they celebrated the Supreme Court decision taking away women’s right to make their own health care decisions — and voters will hold them accountable for it,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) spokesperson Nora Keefe told The 19th.

• “This election will now determine whether Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are able to go even further: making abortion a crime without exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother,” she added.

• In Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican Senate nominee, said on Twitter after the leak that he looked “forward to supporting pro-life legislation that saves innocent lives in the U.S. Senate.”

• “While they’re being quiet now, they’re being quiet in part because in the initial days and beforehand, they made a lot of mistakes,” Lake said. “They’ve already seen backlash, the fact that they want to be quiet about it tells you how well it could work” against them, she added.

McClatchy: McConnell briefly floated a national abortion ban. Democrats have seized on that.
By David Catanese
July 7, 2022

• Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that Republicans could pursue federal legislation to ban abortion everywhere has supplied potent political ammunition to Democrats’ midterm campaign strategy.

• The Kentuckian’s brief comments – made during an interview with USA Today in May, prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade – are now being featured in television advertising and messaging of Democratic candidates across the country.

• In New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who is running for a second term, has fully integrated McConnell into her messaging for weeks.

• “It’s going to be critically important this fall for people to understand that Mitch McConnell and my opponents want to pass a national abortion ban,” Hassan told Fox News over the holiday weekend.

• In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the 49-year legal precedent, Hassan quickly produced her own 30-second television spot that advanced the same message: “This decision catapults us backwards. And there are politicians like Mitch McConnell who’ve made it clear that their objective is to ban abortion nationwide.”

• On the other side of the country in Nevada, another first-term female Democratic incumbent is similarly wielding McConnell’s words against her Republican opponent.

• Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is dubbing a national abortion ban as central to the “Laxalt-McConnell agenda,” referring to Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general who clinched the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in June.

• Masto also placed McConnell in a campaign video about Laxalt’s anti-abortion stance in Nevada, where a poll last fall showed 69% of voters identify as “pro-choice.”

• “Adam Laxalt is an automatic vote for Mitch McConnell’s federal abortion ban that would restrict women’s reproductive freedoms across Nevada,” said Cortez Masto campaign spokesperson Sigalle Reshef.

• Democrats show no sign of relenting in talking about what McConnell might pursue, given his success shepherding three highly conservative Supreme Court nominees to confirmation through the Trump administration.

See Also:

• National Journal: From New Hampshire to Nevada, women Democratic senators running for reelection highlight abortion rights.
• Las Vegas Review Journal: Cortez Masto says abortion rights about freedom for women
• Concord Monitor: On the trail: Abortion front and center on NH campaign trail

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