Foolishly, McConnell Ramps Up The Republican Party's War On Women Again

Why would McConnell get the GOP war against women rolling again, juts as the election season is moving into high gear? Who gained and who lost yesterday when he forced the Senate into a no-win situation with two abortion votes. McConnell's no fool and he knew there was no possibility the already-rejected bills would pass. So why move away from his strategy of no votes on policy, just on Trumpist confirmations of judges and other characters sent over by the Regime?

Do the culture war bills to sharply restrict access to late-term abortions and threaten doctors who perform them with criminal penalties signal a decision by the GOP to make Freedom of Choice a campaign issue this year? Apparently so. They'll certainly energize the anti-Choice warriors in the Republican coalition.

Most polling shows just over a third of voters think abortions should be illegal-- in a recent ABC-Washington Post poll 22% said illegal in most cases and 14% said illegal in all cases. As always, a majority of Americans agree that abortions should be legal on all or most cases and that the decision should be up to the pregnant woman.

A few years ago, Pew took a look at how opinions on abortions differed by state. The backward, reactionary states that always vote Republican and where people lose their teeth early in life because they don't understand dental care, are totally anti-choice of course. These are the states where the fewest people back a woman's right to choice:

• West Virginia- 35%
• Kentucky- 36%
• Mississippi- 36%
• Alabama- 37%
• Arkansas- 38%
• Louisiana- 39%
• Tennessee- 40%
• South Carolina- 42%

And these are the states-- almost all blue-- they overwhelmingly favor leave the decision up to the woman and those she chooses to consult:

• Massachusetts- 74%
• Vermont- 70%
• Connecticut- 67%
• Hawaii- 66%
• New Hampshire- 66%
• New York- 64%
• Maine- 64%
• Maryland- 64%
• Oregon- 63%
• Rhode Island- 63%
• Alaska- 63%
• Nevada- 62%
• New Jersey- 61%
• Washington- 60%
• Colorado- 59%
• California- 57%
• Illinois- 56%
• Florida- 56%
• Montana- 56%
• Delaware- 55%

Neither bill got through the Democratic technical filibuster. The first got 53 votes out of the 60 needed, with Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Bob Casey (D-PA) voting with all the Republicans except Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The second vote got 56 votes, coming closer to being able to shut downtime filibuster. Collins and Murkowski both voted with the Republicans on that one, as did Alabama Democrat Doug Jones.

Will their votes against Choice today hurt Susan Collins (with hardcore Republicans in Maine), Dan Sullivan (AK), Cory Gardner (CO), Steve Daines (MT)? And what about in states with Senate races that are more closely divided? North Carolina, for example has 49% favoring Choice and 45% opposed. How is that going to impact Thom Tillis in November? Did Joni Ernst make a mistake today by voting against Choice? Iowa has a 52% pro-Choice majority and just 46% against it. Arizona senator Martha McSally voted for the restrictions but a plurality of her constituents-- 49-46%-- favor choice... and that plurality has been growing since the poll was taken half a dozen years ago.

People think of Alaska as a red state. Obama lost both times he ran and Trump beat Hillary 52.8% tp 37.6%. But look at those numbers on Choice. Alaskans are strongly on the pro-Choice side. Yesterday, savvy Republican Lisa Murkowski voted against the Republican position on the first bill, while Dan Sullivan, a bit of a bunk-head  and who's up for reelection, voted against Choice. His opponent, a political independent and a medical doctor, pounced. Al Gross told me that "Dan is nothing but a zealot for the far right wing's harmful partisan agenda, and this vote epitomizes that. For all his talk about small government, he and his DC pals believe it's the government's job to interfere with a woman's right to choose. Well I believe differently. As a Doctor, an Alaskan, and a father, I call this behavior out. Dan Sullivan-- maybe you haven't learned yet, but this is not representative of Alaskan values. Study quick, November is right around the corner and we're going to beat you."

As for the presidential campaign, this is an issue Republicans also lose on in key swing states in the Midwest (besides Florida and New Hampshire):

• Wisconsin- 53-45%
• Pennsylvania- 51-44%
• Ohio- 48-47%
• Michigan- 54-42%

The votes today may have been helpful to McConnell himself, but it looks like most vulnerable Republican senators will be hurt by it. Cory Gardner, another example, has always been an anti-Choice fanatic-- something he proved again yesterday. I asked his progressive opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff how that vote will play in Gardner's struggling reelection campaign. "For Mitch McConnell, Cory Gardner, and their right-wing allies," said Romanoff, "criminalizing abortion is more important than feeding the 11 million children who will go hungry tonight in the richest nation on earth. Shameful."