Democrats have made reproductive rights a centerpiece of their campaign message, but the effort has been stifled over the past two weeks amid growing concerns about President Biden’s ability to run for re-election and calls for him to step aside.
Advocates argue that the more time and energy spent deciding whether Biden should stay in the race or step aside is less time that could be used to show voters the threat of former President Trump and a Republican-controlled government.
“I think this conversation has taken the air out of what we stand for, what we fight for,” said Nourbese Flint, president of All* Above All and its affiliated political fund, which focuses on abortion justice.
Flint and other progressives have been pushing Biden’s campaign to be stronger in its messaging on reproductive rights, but right now she and other progressives say the campaign appears stalled.
“The base is divided. I think people are really confused,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March. “And I think there’s a really big need for the party to demonstrate leadership and take clear action to run a strong campaign and refocus attention on the issues and what’s at stake.”
Flint said Democrats need to send their “best gladiator” because the election has so many consequences. But she admitted that she doesn’t know who this person is.
Abortion was a winning issue in 2022, and Democrats had high hopes that it would carry them through in 2024 as well.
Every time a state passed an abortion ban, or a court decided to uphold it, Democrats condemned it, and the Biden campaign was quick to blame Trump, who has repeatedly boasted about appointing judges who overturned Roe v. Wade.
Democratic candidates and abortion advocacy groups have been sounding the alarm about what a Trump administration could mean for reproductive rights, and polls showed the message was hitting home.
A record percentage of Americans now declare themselves single-issue voters on abortion rights, according to a June Gallup poll. The numbers were strongest among black voters, Democrats, women and people ages 18 to 29.
But then the presidential debate happened, where Biden stumbled over his words, appeared to lose his train of thought, and gave a rambling and sometimes incoherent response when asked about abortion — a topic that many thought would be a trap given its outsized importance to the campaign.
The display sparked calls within the party for Biden to step aside, which have only grown louder since.
Abortion rights strategists and activists are frustrated that a winning political issue is being overshadowed in the drama.
“There is a simple test for each campaign. Are you talking about the issues you want to talk about or the ones your opponent wants you to talk about? If the topic of conversation is reproductive rights, this is a winning day for Democrats. If the prevailing conversation is the president’s age, this will be a winning day for Republicans,” said Jim Kessler, co-founder of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way.
Nationally, lawmakers are trying to keep abortion on voters’ minds.
In the Senate, Democrats introduced four bills last week focused on access to reproductive health care, including expressing support for reinstituting Roe v. Wade abortion protections. Wade.
It was part of a strategy that began before the July 4th holiday break, with votes on access to contraception and in vitro fertilization. Democrats forced Republicans to declare publicly, trying to put them at an impasse between the desires of their conservative base and the US majority.
Republicans blocked every bill.
“Supporting a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions should have been one of the easiest ‘yes’ votes we had all year. By voting no, Republicans told every woman in America ‘your body, our choice,’” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said on the Senate floor after Republicans blocked consideration of the bill to support Roe.
But in the 24 hours following the vote, about a dozen Democratic lawmakers called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. Since then, more people have joined in, though others have circled around Biden.
Biden himself has never been the strongest messenger on abortion rights, and his personal views on the issue are notoriously complicated.
Vice President Harris has been a strong surrogate, so when Biden botched the abortion issue during the debate, it fueled new questions about whether he should step down in favor of a more effective messenger like Harris.
“It’s the easiest subject to message. It’s your greatest strength. It’s Trump’s main weakness. It’s just a simple message. And there was an incoherent response. So I understand why abortion rights activists are concerned,” said Tresa Undem, a Democratic researcher specializing in abortion issues.
Amy Hagstrom Miller, co-founder of Whole Woman’s Health, a chain of abortion clinics, said she finds Harris “authentic” and a good listener.
“This credibility and this ability to listen and be attentive to real and moving stories, without politicizing them. I think she’s doing really well with it, she’s been very effective in talking about abortion,” Hagstrom Miller said.
But she strongly rejected the idea that Harris would be a more effective candidate and said such conversations are a distraction.
“I’m worried about Trump,” Hagstrom Miller said. “I do not see [Harris’s] strength as meaning [Biden] has a weak point… the Biden-Harris administration is at stake. There is stability there, there is a lot of leadership in the areas of reproductive rights, health and justice from the Biden-Harris administration.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
