ICYMI: Democrats are already running on abortion rights in battleground states [NBC News]

New reporting from NBC News highlights that “as was the case … in races across the country in the 2022 midterms,” abortion access remains “a clear winner” for Senate Democrats who are “already hammering likely opponents over abortion rights.” 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NBC News: Democrats already running on abortion rights in battleground states
By Adam Edelman
July 4, 2023

Key points:

• In swing states… Democrats … [are] already hammering likely opponents over abortion rights. The early attacks by Democrats on the issue signal that the party is ready to carry on with what, in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, has been a clear winner for the party.
  
  
• And even at this early stage of the cycle, it’s kept a spotlight on the struggles Republicans have endured in determining how to talk to voters about the divisive issue.
  
  
• The issue will be particularly hard for Republicans to run from in the perennial battleground of Wisconsin, where a deeply unpopular abortion ban will be working its way through through the state court system. 

• Democrats in the state haven’t wasted any time bringing the issue to the foreground. Incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin has already begun talking up her support for abortion rights.
  
  
• The state Democratic Party has also been aggressive on social media blasting the records of a growing list of prospective Republican challengers.
  
  
• All four would face an uphill climb reconciling their stances on the issue in a state where polling released last week found that 66% of registered voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

• Interviews with Republicans in the state revealed that they still don’t have a concrete strategy on how to tackle the issue, though most agreed that the party has fumbled its messaging in the year since the Dobbs ruling. 

• Democrats in other battleground states, however, are already on the offensive, much like in Wisconsin. 

• Over the past few weeks, Democrats in Montana, Nevada and Ohio held events designed to highlight the abortion rights records of Republicans who have expressed interest in running or announced a run for Senate.

• Democrats also pounced on the issue in Pennsylvania, where the state party is already running digital ads against David McCormick — whom Republicans are encouraging to run against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. They target McCormick’s position that life begins at conception and his statements during his unsuccessful 2022 Senate primary race that he supported exceptions for abortion care only in “very rare instances.”

• “In 2022, voters rejected the GOP agenda taking away women’s right to make our own health care decisions and making abortion illegal without exceptions — and we know this will continue to be a defining issue in 2024 Senate races,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Nora Keefe said in a statement.

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