Friday, August 16, 2024

"The abortion issue is very much tempered down."



For at least a couple of years now, we've been talking about the politics of abortion and critiquing the narrative much of the establishment press, particularly Politico and the New York Times, have viewed the issue through. Though the framing and supporting arguments have evolved, the one constant has been the insistence that, while abortion may have been a big deal in previous elections, it won't be one going forward. I have always been skeptical of these arguments, partially because they felt like they were designed to avoid angry Republicans, but in more because, from the very beginning, they seemed overly static and constrained.

I've been trying to wrap my head around the bigger story, one with all sorts of related elements and moving parts and synergistic relationships involving reproductive rights, women's medical care, misogyny, violence against women, the gender gap, attitudes toward women in politics, and what it all means for this and upcoming elections. I'm still at the data gathering stage. With that in mind, your are some recent anecdotal and disorganized tweets. We won't even get into childless cat ladies.

We'll start with something trivial but telling.








Is the ad excessive? Perhaps, but Vance has supported the basic principle of menstrual surveillance, which is one of the reasons that 'weird' has gotten so much traction.




Robinson is the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina.



Along with the post-menopausal women quote, this also came to light recently.
Under his pseudonym, Murphy once stated in a now-deleted blog post — which has been quoted in multiple outlets — that “behind even the most ardent feminist facade is a deep desire to be dominated and even degraded,” and that “rape is the best therapy for the problem. Feminists need rape.”

 These embarrassing Vance clips are emerging every few days now. He may be the worst vetted VP I've seen, and, yes, that includes Palin.

Given Trump's history, you might expect him to shy away from this topic, but that's not the way he operates.

Vance is playing to an audience of one here, saying things that Trump wants to hear, not things that help the campaign.


Attacking sexual assault victims is not a great way to address the ticket's gender gap.

Side note: If you want to play the "no, you're weird" game, you have to do more than just stick the word in anywhere you're trying to be negative.






And the big issue.


Trump insists he isn't worried. (Maybe he's a NYT reader.)

















And while this last point is minor by comparison, it is certainly not going to help.


 



Cheryl Rofer's post is also worth checking out.
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