WASHINGTON 性视界传媒 The Louisville mother who has sketched out a plan just to pay for groceries. The Nevada office worker who has replaced her children性视界传媒檚 juice with water. The Arizona family forced to the food bank to put dinner on the table.
These are the stories Mitch McConnell wants at the forefront of America性视界传媒檚 political mindset in the final 50-some days before an election that性视界传媒檚 developing into one of the most unpredictable midterm campaigns of the modern era.
But while the economy and inflation remain the top concern of voters, McConnell is also contending with a twin set of powerful cultural issues 性视界传媒 abortion rights and gay marriage 性视界传媒 that are complicating his path back to majority leader.
性视界传媒淭he media may have grown somewhat numb to month after month of 8 and 9% inflation, but working Americans have not had the luxury of growing numb,性视界传媒 McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday. 性视界传媒淭he pain gets worse every single time they have to fill a shopping cart or pay their credit card bill.性视界传媒
To amplify the urgency of the message, he even wrote a column his office asked media outlets to consider printing titled, 性视界传媒淭he Democrats Who Run Washington Have No Plans to Fight Inflation.性视界传媒
As Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina added rocket fuel to the fury over abortion rights this week by introducing a national ban and members of his caucus were simultaneously pressured on legislation to codify gay marriage, McConnell strained to keep to the script of blaming Democrats for people性视界传媒檚 plummeting purchasing power.
性视界传媒淥ur colleagues across the aisle created this human catastrophe,性视界传媒 he said. 性视界传媒淎nd they aren性视界传媒檛 even trying to stop it.性视界传媒
Josh Holmes, a top outside political adviser to McConnell shared his frustration with the media性视界传媒檚 focus on a 性视界传媒減roposed 15-week abortion restriction that has next to zero chance of becoming law.性视界传媒
But the reignition of the abortion issue was triggered by McConnell性视界传媒檚 own GOP colleague and it demonstrates the limits of imposing top-down message discipline over a 50-member caucus with varying political and ideological interests.
Furthermore, there性视界传媒檚 evidence that abortion has become a leading motivator for voters, even if its not the preeminent one. A national Fox News survey of registered voters released this week found that while a majority 59% said they were extremely concerned with inflation and higher prices, 45% said the same about abortion policy.
A new New York Times poll found that voters trust Republicans on economic issues by a margin of 14 points, 52% to 38%. But Democrats wield a 55-point advantage among those who cited societal issues like abortion and democracy as their most important voting issue.
性视界传媒淭he reason Democrats are talking about abortion is they started in a hole with their own base and it serves to help with that,性视界传媒 said Mike Shields, a former chief of staff at the Republican National Committee. 性视界传媒淎nd they should be talking about things [President] Biden signed into law, but they can性视界传媒檛 because those wins bring them back to a discussion on inflation and the economy so they have to talk about abortion as a distraction from their own wins.性视界传媒
McConnell clearly has little interest in litigating Graham性视界传媒檚 abortion bill, potentially even if Republicans retake control of the Senate next year.
McConnell and Republicans appear to have dodged a pre-election vote on providing a federal shield for gay marriages, as members of his caucus continue to balk at supporting the measure.
With fears that the Supreme Court could invalidate the civil right, Democrats were planning on a vote next week, but scrapped that timeline due to insufficient GOP support. The bill will require 60 senators, which means 10 Republicans have not yet signed on.
McConnell has not weighed in on how he性视界传媒檒l vote and said he性视界传媒檚 waiting to evaluate the bill性视界传媒檚 specifics.
Still, the GOP won性视界传媒檛 be able to escape abortion as Democrats continue to place it at the centerpiece of their fall campaigns.
In New Hampshire, Sen. Maggie Hassan性视界传媒檚 first ad of the general election uses McConnell性视界传媒檚 image throughout the 30 seconds to position her opponent as 性视界传媒渁nti-choice性视界传媒 and set to 性视界传媒減ush for a nationwide ban on abortion.性视界传媒
McConnell invoked New Hampshire on the Senate floor this week, but only to highlight the rising price of heating oil there.
