Being an avid Democrat, I needed this. A big win for abortion rights in Kansas today. Yes, Kansas. A decidedly red state.
A Washington Post headline buoyed my liberal spirits.
Political prognosticators were saying the vote in Kansas would be close. Actually, it wasn't.
This bodes well for Democrats in the November midterms.
The Kansas legislature, dominated by Republicans, put this constitutional amendment question on the ballot in what they thought would be a low-turnout primary election, hoping that Kansas voters would sleepwalk their way to approving a change to the state's constitution that would take away a woman's private right to choose an abortion.
But the people of Kansas woke up and smelled the risk to freedom that the constitutional amendment posed.
Sure, it remains to be seen how big an impact abortion rights will have in the midterms, since abortion won't be a single issue being voted on, as it was in Kansas today. Yet it sure seems that if Democrats play their cards right, they can lead voters to see that electing Republicans means trashing abortion rights.
So things are looking up for Democrats. They've had some successes in Washington D.C. recently.
Passage of a bill to bolster American computer chip manufacturing. Agreement with Joe Manchin on a bill to fight climate change, lower prescription drug prices, and do other good stuff. Killing of the Al Qaeda leader via a drone strike in Afghanistan.
Polls show that Democrats have a better chance of keeping control of the Senate, thanks to some weak, and very extreme, Republican candidates. The House still seems likely to shift to the GOP, but this isn't guaranteed.
(Nothing in politics is.)
Up in Washington state, at the moment two Republican House members who voted for Trump's impeachment are leading their Trump-backed opponents. Washington has an open top-two primary, where the two candidates who get the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Nice to see Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse in the GOP lead. I'd prefer to have a Democrat win in November. Since this is unlikely given the nature of their districts, returning these two non-Trumpist Republicans to Congress is the next best thing.
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