Will the New Focus on Abortion Help Democrats in the 2012 Election? >
Democrats Have More to Worry About, and Capitalize on, Than Abortion
Focusing on a single issue gins up temporary enthusiasm, but jobs, deficit will take priority on Election Day
August 24, 2012
About Jamie Chandler:
Jamie P. Chandler is a political scientist at Hunter College in New York City, where he teaches courses on American politics, political parties and elections, public opinion, and political analysis.
Democrats will get mixed benefits from the election's new focus on abortion. Missouri Senate candidate and current Rep. Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comment and the Republicans' decision to include support for a Human Life Amendment in their 2012 platform gives Donkeys a compelling value proposition to list in their fundraising letters, but they are not going to serve as the electric prod that drives herds of voters to go blue.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 campaign.]
Democrats also run the risk of pushing the issue over the red line. If Debbie Wasserman Schultz's botched Anderson Cooper interview this week is any indication, the media is going to increasingly take Donkeys to task for some of their misrepresentations of Mitt Romney's campaign. The GOP has inserted similar pro-life language in its platform over the last several elections. The decision is no surprise.
Abortion gives the GOP the same amount of firepower to boost social conservatives' enthusiasm. Many are single-issue voters driven by the party's pro-life agenda. We saw a similar mobilization effect during the GOP primaries. Rick Santorum used President Obama's contraceptives mandate, his directive ordering institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church to cover contraceptives in their health insurance plans, to catapult his campaign.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the Catholic contraception controversy.]
It's important for the public to remember that single issues like abortion, guns, and gay rights give politicians a fast, easy way to win votes. All of this rhetoric is at best symbolic politics, and at worst partisan hyperventilating. Most voters will probably agree that once these candidates get into office, single issues fall to the wayside. Abortion may be this week's distracting shake of the shiny keys. But the public isn't going to stop asking the candidates how they're going to deal with their top two priorities: jobs and the deficit. And they won't forget the answers on November 6.
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- Other Arguments
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#113518
No — Abortion issue may doom Akin, but Republicans' push for the Senate is another matter
FORD O'CONNELL, Republican Strategist, Conservative Activist, and Political Analyst
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#22618
Yes — The Republic Party's extreme abortion and rape rhetoric further alienates women
ZERLINA MAXWELL, Democratic Strategist
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#41611
No — Emphasizing abortion, a low-priority issue with equally strong support on both sides, wouldn't help Dems much
LARA BROWN, Author of 'Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of Aspirants'
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#51612
Yes — The longer Akin, GOP abortion views make headlines, the more young and female voters turn out for Democrats
BRAD BANNON, President of Bannon Communications Research
