In reflecting on 2022, our nation had a historic year.
Hands down, the most-dubious moment of the year came June 24, when the Supreme Court released the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe and Casey, and returned the issue of abortion to the states.
Whether you regard this decision as an attack on a woman’s constitutional right – or as the defense of the unalienable right to life for unborn babies – the decision handed down was historic and significant.
And it affected much of the rest of 2022.
For example, on the evening of May 2 – weeks before the decision came out – a leak of the outcome was released to the press. In an act that was seeking to pressure the justices to change their minds (i.e., subvert our democracy), lawless demonstrations took place at some of the justice’s homes for weeks and even an assassination attempt of Justice Kavanaugh. While these seditious acts haven’t had the exposure in the media that Jan. 6 has had, they are not less significant – and arguably more.
Then we have the effect of Dobbs v. Jackson on the midterms. Virtually everything was going against Democrats going into the midterms: inflation, the border crisis, crime in the cities and education issues.
But going into the midterms, Democrats spent exorbitantly to promote the only thing they seemed to have going for them: abortion rights. Democrats ended up spending nearly half a billion dollars on ads mentioning abortion, more than twice what they spent on the second-closest issue (crime).
While the strategy didn’t work in Florida and Ohio, it was very successful in California, Michigan and Vermont. It had mixed results elsewhere throughout the country. Overall, the tactic held back the expected red wave.
This summary of the 2022 midterms is acknowledged on both sides of the political aisle. Trump recently blamed the poor midterm results on the “abortion issue … especially those that firmly insisted on no exceptions, even in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother… that lost large numbers of voters.”
Count me in on those to be blamed, then.
I have two thoughts on this reflection of 2022 for you to consider:
* The first is that while the Democrats’ midterm strategy seemed to be successful during 2022 elections, the long-term effects have yet to be seen. The excessive spending
by the Democrats on promoting abortion is not popular among Latinos and other demographics, that value children and family. Could the excessive promoting of abortion – marking Democrats out as the Abortion Party – be what it takes for lifelong Democrats in places like Graham County to leave the party that pits itself against the values/virtues we hold dear?
* Secondly, if you would have told me a year ago America could have Roe v. Wade overturned – but it would cause Republicans to lose midterm elections; maybe even cost control of the Senate – I would have taken it in an unborn baby’s heartbeat.
Indeed, 2022 was a year to celebrate.
Scott Kamps writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, thestableguy@frontier.com.