The Kansas vote presents a further challenge for the entire Republican campaign. Turnout was nearly double that for the 2018 primary election, showing that pro-abortion-rights Kansans were motivated to vote. At least 20 percent of Republican primary voters also voted for abortion rights, MSNBC political analyst Steve Kornacki reports. That might not indicate that similar pro-abortion-rights Republicans will vote against their party in the fall; indeed, a recent poll suggests they won’t. But pro-abortion-rights independents might not be so choosy, and Republicans need their backing to win in most swing states.
That possibility means that the national GOP should try to take abortion off the table as quickly as possible. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should hold a joint news conference soon in which they declare unconditionally that no federal antiabortion bill will receive a vote in the next Congress if they are in charge. That’s the best thing they can do to combat Democratic efforts to paint every Republican as an abortion extremist. Such a move would have enraged pro-lifers just last week, but the Kansas debacle should show them there’s no alternative.
These risks stem from the same source: the desire of angry activists for radical, immediate change. These Republicans believe American freedom and culture are being rapidly stripped away, and they want someone who will take their country back. Its reminiscent of earlier conservative efforts to roll back the New Deal and “stand athwart history, yelling ‘Stop.’ ” It is also reminiscent of modern progressive’s desire for immediate transformation of American society.
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