The new talking point coming from the liberal media is that being strongly pro-life will doom Republican candidates in the midterm elections. Both CBS, MSNBC and CNN have hyped supposed GOP “extremism” on the issue to cheer up Democrats and scare Republicans. So it’s not a surprise that the networks on Monday and Tuesday morning ignored good news for Greg Abbott, the strongly pro-life governor of Texas.
Abbott, who hailed the overturning of Roe, who signed a trigger law banning most abortions in the state, represents the views of his state. As noted by The Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard: here’s data from an Emerson College/The Hill poll:
“Voters were asked which candidate they align with most on the issue of abortion rights. Forty-nine percent align with Abbott while 44% align with O’Rourke.”
That clearly doesn’t fit the media narrative of impending doom for pro-life Republicans. Drawing conclusions from a single poll is risky, but multiple recent surveys show a surge for the Republican. According to Real Clear Politics,
- Abbott leads pro-abortion Democrat Beto-O'Rourke by eight in the Emerson poll.
- Abbott leads by seven in the September 18 Spectrum News/Siena poll.
- Abbott leads by ten in the September 16 KHOU-TV poll.
- Abbott leads by 11 in the September 13 Dallas Morning News poll.
When Kansas voted no on a confusingly-worded abortion referendum in August, MSNBC obsessively devoted 65 minutes over 12 hours to the vote, touting it as a victory against extremism. On August 29, CBS pushed new polling suggesting Democrats might save their majorities by promoting abortion. On August 30, CNN hyped a turning point for Democrats. Here’s Brianna Keilar:
The Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade has energized voters and made abortion rights a flashpoint in the midterm elections. It's given Democrats a boost. Now, some Republican candidates who were strongly opposed to abortion are suddenly softening their stance.
If Democrats don’t win big because of abortion, if candidates like Greg Abbott in Texas actually do better because of being pro-life, will journalists point it out? Don’t hold your breath.
