The GOP talks about freedom while they are busy taking it away. I hope women and young voters come out in droves to vote these extremists out. Thanks for breaking it down for us. And Happy New Year to this community of wonderful people! 💙✌️
The Republican Taliban is talking about ENORMOUS government. Banning abortion with no exceptions nationwide, restricting travel for health care, bounties on people who assist a pregnant person in terminating a pregnancy, criminalizing doctors and pregnant people. Then as if those things are not enough they want to use the DOJ to pursue people they consider disloyal. They literally want ti become the US equivalent to the Afghan Taliban.
Well done, Jay! May I offer this thoughtful piece on abortion from the WSJ? It suggests shifting how democrats frame the abortion issue to appeal to “values”, and “personal freedom”. Their polling has discovered that when people are asked: “Should personal decisions like abortion be up to women rather than the government?”.....The response is more supportive. The sector with the highest positive percentage were old, white, Republican males.
The point is to bring the discussion down to a more personally relevant level, asking respondents to think about the issue in terms of how they would feel if someone they knew and cared about needed an abortion - a daughter or granddaughter for example.
“Republicans have noticed the resonance with their liberty-loving voters. “They stole freedom!” one antiabortion Republican consultant recently remarked.”
It’s about time Democrats reclaimed the word freedom!
Why in earth do I subscribe to your substack? You don't understand anything about women or abortion. Women and those who love them have had abortion since Acient Eqypt. Thats why its in the bible five times. Honestly, your clueless about nearly everything.
We all know there has been and will always continue to be abortions, but safe abortions in some states are impossible to access. When did he say this was something new?
Jay, the author, did not make these ridiculous abortion bans.
“I have endeavored to bring clarity and focus to our political and legal discourse. I believe an educated and informed electorate is the greatest weapon we have against the growing anti-democratic tide.”
THANK YOU FOR THAT AND FOR ALL
YOU DO! I’m so glad I found your Substack this past year!
Michigan will go blue in 2024. There is a coordinated D group here, and the R's are self-immolating. Really crazy stuff! Elissa Slotkin (current rep.) is running to replace Sen. Stabenow, who has endorsed her. Whitmer is a strong, powerful force for Dems here. GO BLUE!!
I'm not all that confident on Michigan. 2024 is a Presidential election year, and Biden lost MI with his fumbling on Israel. The big question is how that affects down-ballot races.
It's darn close, IMO. In 2020, Biden won Michigan by ~150,000 votes (which actually is a very narrow margin by MI standards). In 2016, Trump won MI by ~10,000 votes. The Arab-American vote is said to be around 140,000. If even just 80,000 of those went to Trump, that would be plenty to flip the election. The only reason you may be right is that most Arab-Americans probably won't go to Trump, but may go to Cornel West, who's very actively courting them. And I suspect that some non-Arabs will also vote the same way, so there are probably more than 140,000 votes in play.
OTOH, the general election is still 11 months away, so Biden may be able to recover. He's already changed his tune a bit, thankfully. A lot also depends on Netanyahu.
I agree with Jay, Kevin. Israel is the issue of the moment, true, but women's freedom will pull the vote to Biden and D's down-ballot. It's what turned Mich blue in '22, and that won't change by Fall '24. I also disagree with your premise that Biden fumbled on Israel. This is extremely complicated, and Biden has been threading a narrow needle, along with his capable State and Defense departments. Please don't buy into the R propaganda on Biden's handling of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The R's are playing Putin's game for him here, IMO.
Members of all marginalized groups need to realize Republicans are not their friends - never were, never will be. Women, LGBTQ, immigrants, racial minorities all need to get up and vote against the people who are hell-bent on taking away their rights.
Re: abortion rights: A yuuge shoutout to Jessica Valenti and her Abortion Every Day writings on Substack...she and her coworkers have offered blanket coverage of state and national efforts by reactionary Repubs to not only ban abortions but criminalize the procedure, those who perform it, and women who undertake abortion. Deserves the support of everyone who values reproductive rights---
Thanks again for this. As one can easily see, much of the ugly mischief done by Repubs is at the state level, which is why my groups have been working on red statehouse elections since 2017. Initially supporting blue candidates and more recently supporting grassroots groups in those states who are on the ground ALL year, not just during the election cycle. Donating to these groups also means the $ won’t just disappear in that candidate’s coffers once election over.
“Democratic strategists understand the vulnerability the GOP faces on the question, and they intend to exploit it to maximal effect.”
Gods, I hope so. I know I’m a broken record on this, but the Democrats have been pathetically poor at getting their message out and at exploiting Republican weaknesses.
With all the Democratic accomplishments, and all the Republican crimes and blatantly unpopular policies, you’d think there’d be no contest. And yet, somehow, Democrats continue to pull their punches on calling Republicans on their shit.
I also believe they need to go after Trump like a vicious attack dog. No more of this nice guy stuff. It doesn’t work. The whole premise of, “when they go low, we go high“ does not work, if it ever did. Rick Wilson’s team knows how to produce television ads that make Trump and the Republicans look like flaming imbeciles. They need to take a clue from the Lincoln Project.
I totally agree Janet! The facts, data, and evidence all prove that Democrats are doing a far better job in creating opportunities and a more decent society. Trump has appealed to the worst instincts in some folks. Dems need to sharpen their talking points !
It’s the media who isn’t screaming it like they do with the republicans perceived injustices. It just won’t bring the ratings. Plus the republicans overwhelm the news with their antics.
Thank you, Jay! I think abortion rights will most certainly be the determining factor across the country. Doing my best here in AZ to get signatures and make citizens aware of the threats to our rights, our democracy. Happy 2024! We can do this! 💙
You are welcome! And there is a whole slew of us doing this... I have no doubt we will have the required amount of signatures. I think we will get it passed into our Constitution, but we shall see. AZ Republicans continuously disappoint and anger me. They are really awful, fake, and hypocritical (and I can’t wait until the fake electors go to jail). BUT I’m originally from Ohio and never thought Ohio would pass this and embed into the Ohio constitution! So, there is hope. Ridiculous that we must fight for a say in our own bodies/healthcare.
Also, A.M., I wish I could feel more certain that most women don’t want the GOP governing their bodies. I know a lot of Catholic raised women like myself who just cannot get away from their religious beliefs they were taught all their lives. I can tell you, no one in my (childhood Catholic) church told me my body was my own. All I ever heard was abortion was murder and I believed it for a long time. So, there are those women who will never stray from that belief system.
"The majority of Americans ... agree that abortion is healthcare and personal to the person who is pregnant and her healthcare provider"
It depends exactly what you mean by that. Poll after poll shows that most people (usually in the ~60% range) do want some restrictions on abortion, they just don't want it completely banned.
Perfect example for the fallacy of making it a binary issue. Very few people, except the extremists, want to go that far. Not a lot of people want the other extreme, either.
Emphatically agree. Dems messengering doesn’t come close to our actual accomplishments - yet, Republicans have disproportionately controlled the narrative around key issues. That’s why this article is so important. The presidential choice has to be similarly reframed to survival of Democracy.
The GOP talks about freedom while they are busy taking it away. I hope women and young voters come out in droves to vote these extremists out. Thanks for breaking it down for us. And Happy New Year to this community of wonderful people! 💙✌️
The Republican Taliban is talking about ENORMOUS government. Banning abortion with no exceptions nationwide, restricting travel for health care, bounties on people who assist a pregnant person in terminating a pregnancy, criminalizing doctors and pregnant people. Then as if those things are not enough they want to use the DOJ to pursue people they consider disloyal. They literally want ti become the US equivalent to the Afghan Taliban.
It scares me...not only for what they want to do, but equally frightening are the people who continue to vote for these extremists. Wake Up!
Ty 💙
Well done, Jay! May I offer this thoughtful piece on abortion from the WSJ? It suggests shifting how democrats frame the abortion issue to appeal to “values”, and “personal freedom”. Their polling has discovered that when people are asked: “Should personal decisions like abortion be up to women rather than the government?”.....The response is more supportive. The sector with the highest positive percentage were old, white, Republican males.
The point is to bring the discussion down to a more personally relevant level, asking respondents to think about the issue in terms of how they would feel if someone they knew and cared about needed an abortion - a daughter or granddaughter for example.
“Republicans have noticed the resonance with their liberty-loving voters. “They stole freedom!” one antiabortion Republican consultant recently remarked.”
It’s about time Democrats reclaimed the word freedom!
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/how-abortion-rights-backers-changed-their-messageand-started-winning-58db41e7?
Excellent information. Thank you!
Thank you for this very cogent analysis, as usual!
Can the members of congress who participated in the insurrection be barred from holding office?
Let’s get Trump first and iron out all the legal issues around it then see…
Are you more hopeful now than previously posts about nailing all those involved?
Why in earth do I subscribe to your substack? You don't understand anything about women or abortion. Women and those who love them have had abortion since Acient Eqypt. Thats why its in the bible five times. Honestly, your clueless about nearly everything.
We all know there has been and will always continue to be abortions, but safe abortions in some states are impossible to access. When did he say this was something new?
Jay, the author, did not make these ridiculous abortion bans.
I'm a woman and I like his work !
You might read the article to discover you have jumped to a mistaken conclusion.
“I have endeavored to bring clarity and focus to our political and legal discourse. I believe an educated and informed electorate is the greatest weapon we have against the growing anti-democratic tide.”
THANK YOU FOR THAT AND FOR ALL
YOU DO! I’m so glad I found your Substack this past year!
The GOP: Crossing state lines to acquire an abortion is a Punishable Offense.
Also the GOP: Crossing state lines to acquire a gun is Protected under the Second Amendment.
Bingo!! The Grand Old Hypocrites strike again.
Perfect billboard!
" This blowback has been far beyond what the anti-abortion forces expected. "
Of course it is because they live in bright red bubble and think the whole world is nuts like them.
Michigan will go blue in 2024. There is a coordinated D group here, and the R's are self-immolating. Really crazy stuff! Elissa Slotkin (current rep.) is running to replace Sen. Stabenow, who has endorsed her. Whitmer is a strong, powerful force for Dems here. GO BLUE!!
I'm not all that confident on Michigan. 2024 is a Presidential election year, and Biden lost MI with his fumbling on Israel. The big question is how that affects down-ballot races.
I don’t think he lost Michigan over Israel. The numbers simply aren’t there to prove that.
It's darn close, IMO. In 2020, Biden won Michigan by ~150,000 votes (which actually is a very narrow margin by MI standards). In 2016, Trump won MI by ~10,000 votes. The Arab-American vote is said to be around 140,000. If even just 80,000 of those went to Trump, that would be plenty to flip the election. The only reason you may be right is that most Arab-Americans probably won't go to Trump, but may go to Cornel West, who's very actively courting them. And I suspect that some non-Arabs will also vote the same way, so there are probably more than 140,000 votes in play.
OTOH, the general election is still 11 months away, so Biden may be able to recover. He's already changed his tune a bit, thankfully. A lot also depends on Netanyahu.
I agree with Jay, Kevin. Israel is the issue of the moment, true, but women's freedom will pull the vote to Biden and D's down-ballot. It's what turned Mich blue in '22, and that won't change by Fall '24. I also disagree with your premise that Biden fumbled on Israel. This is extremely complicated, and Biden has been threading a narrow needle, along with his capable State and Defense departments. Please don't buy into the R propaganda on Biden's handling of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The R's are playing Putin's game for him here, IMO.
BASELINE FOR 2024
Only one president has rejected democracy, plotted a coup to stay in office, and faced 91 criminal indictments.
Members of all marginalized groups need to realize Republicans are not their friends - never were, never will be. Women, LGBTQ, immigrants, racial minorities all need to get up and vote against the people who are hell-bent on taking away their rights.
Re: abortion rights: A yuuge shoutout to Jessica Valenti and her Abortion Every Day writings on Substack...she and her coworkers have offered blanket coverage of state and national efforts by reactionary Repubs to not only ban abortions but criminalize the procedure, those who perform it, and women who undertake abortion. Deserves the support of everyone who values reproductive rights---
https://jessica.substack.com
Thanks again for this. As one can easily see, much of the ugly mischief done by Repubs is at the state level, which is why my groups have been working on red statehouse elections since 2017. Initially supporting blue candidates and more recently supporting grassroots groups in those states who are on the ground ALL year, not just during the election cycle. Donating to these groups also means the $ won’t just disappear in that candidate’s coffers once election over.
“Democratic strategists understand the vulnerability the GOP faces on the question, and they intend to exploit it to maximal effect.”
Gods, I hope so. I know I’m a broken record on this, but the Democrats have been pathetically poor at getting their message out and at exploiting Republican weaknesses.
With all the Democratic accomplishments, and all the Republican crimes and blatantly unpopular policies, you’d think there’d be no contest. And yet, somehow, Democrats continue to pull their punches on calling Republicans on their shit.
I couldn't agree more...why the Dems dont promote their successes is beyond me. I'd like a word with their PR/Ad people.
I also believe they need to go after Trump like a vicious attack dog. No more of this nice guy stuff. It doesn’t work. The whole premise of, “when they go low, we go high“ does not work, if it ever did. Rick Wilson’s team knows how to produce television ads that make Trump and the Republicans look like flaming imbeciles. They need to take a clue from the Lincoln Project.
I totally agree Janet! The facts, data, and evidence all prove that Democrats are doing a far better job in creating opportunities and a more decent society. Trump has appealed to the worst instincts in some folks. Dems need to sharpen their talking points !
Happy new year, Susan. 🥂🎉 The next year will be a doozy.
It sure will be. Let’s hang on-and I’m so glad to know you…and all in this community! Happy New Year! 🎉
Thank you, and same to you. At least we find a way to have fun through all of this.
It’s the media who isn’t screaming it like they do with the republicans perceived injustices. It just won’t bring the ratings. Plus the republicans overwhelm the news with their antics.
Sure. So why don't they?
Even just pointing out Republican hypocrisy, of which there are countless examples, would be a good start.
Thank you, Jay! I think abortion rights will most certainly be the determining factor across the country. Doing my best here in AZ to get signatures and make citizens aware of the threats to our rights, our democracy. Happy 2024! We can do this! 💙
Thank you, Suzanne!!
You are welcome! And there is a whole slew of us doing this... I have no doubt we will have the required amount of signatures. I think we will get it passed into our Constitution, but we shall see. AZ Republicans continuously disappoint and anger me. They are really awful, fake, and hypocritical (and I can’t wait until the fake electors go to jail). BUT I’m originally from Ohio and never thought Ohio would pass this and embed into the Ohio constitution! So, there is hope. Ridiculous that we must fight for a say in our own bodies/healthcare.
Exactly. I’m really hoping AZ doesn’t disappoint.
Also, A.M., I wish I could feel more certain that most women don’t want the GOP governing their bodies. I know a lot of Catholic raised women like myself who just cannot get away from their religious beliefs they were taught all their lives. I can tell you, no one in my (childhood Catholic) church told me my body was my own. All I ever heard was abortion was murder and I believed it for a long time. So, there are those women who will never stray from that belief system.
A lot of Catholics were raised in liberal homes. Just saying.
"The majority of Americans ... agree that abortion is healthcare and personal to the person who is pregnant and her healthcare provider"
It depends exactly what you mean by that. Poll after poll shows that most people (usually in the ~60% range) do want some restrictions on abortion, they just don't want it completely banned.
Perfect example for the fallacy of making it a binary issue. Very few people, except the extremists, want to go that far. Not a lot of people want the other extreme, either.
Emphatically agree. Dems messengering doesn’t come close to our actual accomplishments - yet, Republicans have disproportionately controlled the narrative around key issues. That’s why this article is so important. The presidential choice has to be similarly reframed to survival of Democracy.
You’re right about New York needing to stay vigilant. Unfortunately they’ve given us Elise Stefanik. Yikes!
Thank you, Jay. Happy New Year!