An oft-overlooked aspect of the polling extravaganza that takes place each election cycle is that the mass of surveys are not only used to inform the voting public of their favored candidates’ likely performance. This swath of data also allows politicians to defer, deflect, or ditch a midterm strategy if the numbers look dicey. In fact, there are precisely zero rules in place to stop a campaign from pulling a complete 180-degree turn if the fair winds turn foul. Why, then, are Democrats across the nation locking themselves into what appears to be a losing scenario?
A Roe Reckoning?
President Joe Biden recommitted to codifying a version of Roe v. Wade during a speech on October 18. He said that if he gets more Democrat senators and representatives, “the first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade. And when Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January, 50 years after Roe was first decided the law of the land.” Naturally, this is a policy his voting base supports, but it ignores the issue that will almost certainly be the driving force of the November elections.
Poll after poll indicates that the top priority for the American voter is the cost of living. It was true when Clinton strategist James Carville coined the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid,” and it remains true today. Even a recent New York Times/Siena College survey noted that female voters are more concerned over pocketbook policies than abortion. So why, instead of seeking to address the issue of inflation, are Democrat politicians doubling down?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), when pushed on why Democrats are sticking with the midterm strategy of abortion as the priority, argued:
“I dismiss that. I can tell you that women’s concerns about their freedom are very, very much still very significant in terms of how they will vote. In fact, 80% of people who care about a woman’s right to choose say they will – it will determine who they vote for.”
A Feedback Failure
(Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Perhaps even more worrisome for Democrat hopefuls is that voters look at the polls as well as politicians’ reactions to them. There can be few greater sins in modern politics than to be accused of not listening to your constituents; in fact, to suggest that a party has “heard” what voters have to say has become somewhat of a trope.
For the millions of voters across the nation who would usually cast a straight blue ballot, their party’s refusal to acknowledge that inflation and the cost-of-living crisis are the pivotal issues during this election cycle is likely more than a little frustrating. How do you make yourself heard by an authority who refuses to listen? When even the ordinarily Dem-friendly Fourth Estate asks why Team Biden has wedded itself to abortion over inflation, John and Jane Q. Public of the blue variety will almost certainly be aware of this deafening political silence.
An Ideological Lock on Midterm Strategy
Perhaps at the heart of President Biden’s unwillingness to make economic issues his top midterm priority is the ever-widening split in his party. One faction believes it can garner votes by promoting victimhood. The quasi-socialists continue to give credence to the idea that government should be spending more money even when evidence shows the pitfalls of such an endeavor. And between them sits a president who is out of his depth and attempting to be all things to all people in the hopes that he can unite a fractured political party that has no use for the average American other than as a route to power.
