POLITICO:
Now, consider some numbers:
- 63%: That’s the percentage of Americans who oppose “laws that ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.”
- 52%: That’s the percentage of Americans who “oppose restrictions that make it illegal to obtain an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.”
These are bad numbers for Republicans. Whether you are DeSantis signing a six-week ban or Scott (tentatively) supporting a 15-week ban, you are still on the losing side of public opinion. That’s to say nothing of the Republicans who support outright bans, where public support ranges from the single digits to the low 20s, depending on whether there are exceptions for the life of the mother, incest or rape.
Banning medical abortions would be an unmitigated political disaster for Republicans.
POLITICO:
DeSantis could be walking into a general election trap on abortion
Democrats prepared to pounce after Florida governor backed a six-week abortion ban.
“We’re going to make him own this, and his agenda, everywhere he goes,” said a national Democratic operative granted anonymity to discuss party strategy. “Goes to Michigan? Abortion ban. Goes to Ohio next week? Abortion ban. And that will take different forms but we’ll hang this incredibly toxic abortion ban and his agenda around his neck with different tactics.”
The operative added that this is one of many points on which to attack DeSantis who has taken several stances on social issues that Democrats believe won’t sit well with swing voters.
Tessa Stuart and Asawin Suebsaeng/Rolling Stone:
‘We’re Getting Killed on Abortion’: Inside Trump’s Secret Meetings With the Religious Right
The ex-president expects anti-abortion activists to line up behind his presidential campaign, but his bid for their support is off to a rocky start
According to two participants and another source close to Trump, the ex-president has warned leaders in off-the-record conversations that Republicans risk “losing big” — in Trump’s words — unless they follow his lead. He has warned the leaders to shift their own messaging, telling them to emphasize “exceptions” to abortion bans, including in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother. In these frank talks, Trump has stressed this is his 2024 plan, saying it’s necessary to prevent Democrats from painting him as an “extremist.”
Privately, Trump is conceding those big losses have already begun. Trump has for several weeks vented to confidants that the GOP is “getting killed on abortion” or on “the abortion issue,” according to three people who’ve heard him use this phrasing on different occasions.
During his meetings, when pressed on what specifically he’d support in a second term, Trump has instead focused on his record as the “most pro-life” president in U.S. history. Among the anti-abortion leaders, religious conservatives, and politically active pastors gathered, Trump’s retroactive focus has left some unsatisfied, including anti-abortion advocates who previously endorsed him. Indeed, during one of these conference calls held around early March, one of the participants gently told Trump that his 2024 policy commitments were vague, requesting clarity and specifics. Trump responded by boasting about his past accomplishments, according to two of the sources.
One recent participant wondered to Rolling Stone: Is Trump “going to try to make us swallow getting next to nothing in return for our support?”
The Hill:
What happens if Feinstein resigns?
While she did not directly address the calls for her to step down in her statement Wednesday, Puck News reporter Tara Palmeri tweeted that she is hearing “rumblings” that Feinstein is considering it.
If Feinstein were to resign, it could change up the race already in progress to determine her successor.
California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee have all announced bids for the open Senate seat in 2024.
If Feinstein resigns before her term ends, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would be responsible for appointing a replacement to serve for the remainder of the term, which would give that person a leg up in the 2024 race.
Pelosi suggested “political agendas” might be at work in the calls from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) for Feinstein to resign.
Jonathan Martin/POLITICO:
How Tennessee Became the Poster State for Political Meltdown
The Volunteer State was long defined by its unique culture. Then came toxic redistricting, poisoned social media, parties polarized on race and other pathologies.
The old boys were also, well, old boys. There’s yet to be a female governor here, and racial minorities have been all too scarce outside the state’s large cities.
What there was, though, was competition and accountability.
Statewide races were hotly contested, as were many legislative and congressional campaigns and, with the right conditions, moderate Southern Democrats could carry the state in presidential races (or fall achingly short).
[...]
That was then.
Now, the voters are confined to safely red or blue districts and are animated by the same partisan impulses down the ballot that have made Tennessee a deep-red state in federal races. Candidate quality, cyclical changes in the economy and local issues are moot, at least when compared to party label.
“We don’t have elections anymore, we have censuses,” Jeff Yarbro lamented.
POLITICO:
Tennessee Republicans may have just handed a lifeline to Democrats
Outrage over the ouster of two Democratic lawmakers has supercharged party organizing in a Republican stronghold.
[...]
“Nothing changes the fact that these districts are highly gerrymandered,” said Lisa Quigley, a former chief of staff to Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat who didn’t seek reelection after his district was effectively eliminated in redistricting last year. “It’s going to take some really smart organizing all over the state, because none of us vote very well.”
But if there was ever a moment when the party stood a chance, it’s now. The state Democratic Party has been flooded with donations and interest since the GOP started moving against three Democrats for participating in a gun safety protest on the state House floor, and ultimately expelling two of them last week for violating decorum rules. Their stunt angered Republicans who wanted to see them promptly punished, invoking a rare removal process marked by its partisanship and accusations of racism.
Mike McDonald/Substack:
The Real Reason Conservative States are Leaving the Electronic Registration Information Center
ERIC members share their state voter registration files with each other so they can identify people who move across state lines and nab people who attempt to vote more than once in two different states. ERIC does more. States also share their drivers license databases, which allows states to conduct voter registration drives among unregistered but eligible voters, known as EBUs in ERIC-lingo.
ERIC only sends back to states lists of individuals identified as EBUs who have not been previously contacted by states. In a way, the EBU outreach requirement is a backstop to ensure states are compliant with the federal “Motor Voter” law (a.k.a. the 1993 National Voter Registration Act or NVRA for short). Motor Voter requires states to provide registration opportunities at drivers license and public assistance agencies. If persons who interact with a drivers license agency are offered voter registration at that time and are entered into the state’s databases shared with ERIC as such, then they are not considered an EBU.
This is the deal struck by Democratic and Republican ERIC member states: states get cleaner voter registration rolls which reduces waste and fraud and they must also do voter registration outreach. This compromise worked for a time, with both Democratic and Republican states joining to improve elections across the country.
[…]
Look, I love snarky clickbait as much as anyone. But this reporting buries the real, substantive reason why Republican states are leaving ERIC: they do not like the EBU outreach requirement.
And just for fun, from Merriam-Webster:
17 Words With No English Equivalent