At one point it looked like Republicans were a lock to win back the Senate and build a monster majority in the House this November.
However, missteps along the way have made the 2022 Midterms anyone’s ballgame.
But a new report proves Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are betting all their chips on this one controversial issue winning them the day.
This summer, the Supreme Court of the United States made one of its most historic rulings in decades when it overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion policies back to the states.
Democrats haven’t stopped rioting and protesting for their “right” to kill babies since.
And they’ve made abortion the centerpiece of their campaigns for the Midterms.
Democrats all-in on abortion
In fact, an examination of Democrats’ ad spending shows party leadership is pinning all their Midterm hopes on the abortion issue.
“With less than 60 days until the election, we refuse to stand by while out-of-step, anti-choice Republicans try to control our bodies and our futures and simultaneously lie about it to voters,” said Melissa Williams, executive director of Women Vote. “We are ensuring that each voter knows the candidates that stand with them and against them in protecting this right.”
EMILY’s List alone has spent more than $4 million on abortion ads this election cycle – but that’s just a relative drop in the bucket.
Democrat candidates and the Political Action Committees supporting them have already spent more than $124 million in campaign ads targeting abortion – about 33% of all their ads.
According to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the nonpartisan research firm AdImpact, that’s more than twice as much as the next issue topic.
And it’s about 20 times more than Democrats spent on abortion-related ads four years ago in the 2018 Midterm elections.
The fact is, Democrats have spent more on pro-abortion ads than GOP candidates have spent nationally on economic, crime, and immigration ads combined despite those ongoing crises impacting all Americans.
Is abortion winning elections for Democrats?
Democrats can point to two election results already this cycle to conclude abortion is a “winning issue” for them, however, they do so at their own peril.
In the red state of Kansas, voters rejected a ballot referendum that would have repealed a court ruling that made abortion legal in the state.
On its face, that appeared to be a massive victory for Democrats.
But there were mitigating factors.
First, the pro-abortion side had the “no” line – which always has an advantage in ballot measure votes.
Second, the pro-abortion side of the debate received enormous amounts of cash to fill the Sunflower State’s relatively inexpensive airwaves – far outspending the pro-life side with lies about what the referendum would do.
And the vote was held on the state’s primary day, with few Republican contests of note taking place.
This allowed Democrats to get out the vote against the ballot initiative, without a strong counter force.
It also didn’t help that the referendum was very broad and poorly worded.
Then there is the recent special election in New York’s 19th district in the Hudson Valley.
The media declared the race to be a “bellwether” and Democrats focused their campaign almost entirely on abortion.
In the end, Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Republican Marcus Molinaro by two points.
Big Media herald the result as a sign of the great Democrat comeback in 2022 and sure-fire proof abortion was a great motivator for Democrats.
However, Ryan won the district by about the same margin as the Democrat who was giving up the seat did.
It’s also right in line with then-candidate Joe Biden’s performance in the district in 2020.
When you consider this election was also held on the state’s primary day – and New York has closed primaries with voter registration numbers that tilt heavily in favor of Democrats – abortion advocates should be disappointed their candidate didn’t win by more.
Both the Special Election in upstate New York and the referendum in Kansas were wins for Democrats and did prove abortion as an issue is a threat to hopes for a red wave this November.
But the evidence is far from overwhelming, and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are betting the farm on it.
