Earlier today, The New York Times expressed shock that Democrats had done well in recent elections thanks to the abortion issue, tweeting that “abortion rights groups have been on an unexpected winning streak.” I’m not sure why they thought it was unexpected, but their tweet’s amateurish credulousness didn’t stop there, adding that “the [pro-abortion ballot] measure in Ohio is their toughest fight yet.”
Ohio voters easily passed the measure enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution, as expected, by a double-digit margin (12 points as I write this).
Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won his reelection fight in one of the reddest states in the country (and the one with the most evangelical voters) by forcefully defending both trans and abortion rights. And anyone who thinks a version of this ad won’t air in almost every single race next year hasn’t been paying attention (we have):
In a race with clear relevance to 2024, Democrats won a key open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, maintaining their 5-2 majority. Republicans ran a 2020 election denier, who told The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board, “I have no idea" whether Joe Biden won the presidential race.
In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin had been enjoying a political media boomlet, talked up as a potential late presidential challenger to Donald Trump (set to make a decision later this month). He claimed Republicans were on their way to the trifecta, holding their advantage in the House of Delegates and flipping the state Senate. His hopes and dreams all came crashing down as Democrats held the Senate and flipped the House—which is now on the verge of electing its first Black speaker.
Other notable results:
Perhaps people will stop obsessing over one freaking round of NYT/Siena polls, as if anyone is surprised that battleground states are battlegrounds. Yes, President Joe Biden could lose, but you think the energy we’ve seen among the Democratic electorate these past two years will somehow dissipate next year? You think abortion will be any less salient, or Donald Trump any less threatening and terrifying?
Yes, Trump’s MAGA crowd will turn out, but so will ours. And we have more to fight for, more on the line. We have proved it the past two cycles, shattering historical expectations of how the “out” party should perform and confounding the so-called experts who look at Biden’s approval ratings and the inflation rate and wonder, “Why aren’t voters punishing Democrats?”
It’s because we’re on the right side of the issues and history, while Republicans double down on the things voters hate most: the Republican assault on our democracy, our rights, and our common decency.
Our fight is righteous, standing for something far greater than the incoherent and intolerant nonsense of the right, which amounts to nothing more than “own the libs.”
Winning is great. Let’s keep doing it!
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