As Campaign Season Begins, Democrats have their Issue… Again
Republicans know what they want this year’s legislative election to be about.
Public school curriculum … Wind turbines off the Jersey Shore … Pork in the $54 billion state budget.
What they definitely don’t want it to be about is abortion rights.
Democrats know that, and they know something else. When it comes to abortion, the majority is on their side.
Polls show that most people across the nation did not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned. If you don’t believe the polls, there is real life to consider.
Since the court’s action in June of 2022, there have been six statewide referendums on abortion. The abortion rights side has won all six – even in “red” states like Kansas and Kentucky. That does not include Ohio, where just a few weeks ago, voters backed abortion rights in what was seen as a proxy vote. A referendum on the issue is set for November.
So it is hardly a shock that a new ad for Democrats in LD-16 centers on abortion rights and condemns GOP Senate candidate Mike Pappas for wanting “to ban abortions even in cases of rape and incest.”
The district covers mostly parts of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, but also Princeton in Mercer and South Brunswick in Middlesex.
Democrats outnumber Republicans here by about 18,000 on the registration rolls, but the GOP sees this district as a possible pick-up.
The Democratic candidates are incumbent Sen. Andrew Zwicker, incumbent Assemblyman Roy Freiman and newcomer Mitchelle Drulis, who is featured in the ad.
The Republicans are the aforementioned Pappas and Assembly hopefuls Grace Zhang and Ross Traphagen.
The ad begins with Drulis, who was an aide to former CD-7 Congressman Tom Malinowski, expressing fear about the future, her daughter at her side. Affordability, or lack thereof, is a concern, but then we get to the punchline.
Drulis said she worries about her daughter’s “basic rights and freedoms.”
The Republican candidates are then pictured (in black and white) and Drulis says that she and her fellow Dems, unlike the GOP, will protect a women’s right to choose.
By any measure, this is an uncomfortable election subject for the GOP.
If Republicans try to walk away – even a little bit – from a strong pto-life position, they risk upsetting the party’s base.
But the problem is with arithmetic. The strong pro-life position is a minority view. Democrats, many independents and even some Republicans disagree with it.
No wonder that Republicans would rather talk about dead whales, “pornographic” literature in the school library, and “Christmas Tree” items in the budget.
There is more than two months to go, but even if it was two days before the election, it would be safe to say turnout figures to be very, very low.
Many people just don’t care about the state Legislature. Sad, but true.
That makes getting as much turnout as you can in a ho-hum election critical.
Republicans think their aforementioned issues will bring conservatives to the polls.
They may be right about that.
But judging from public sentiment across the nation, protecting abortion rights is going to bring Dems and other like minded souls to the polls as well.
As the campaign unwinds, expect to see more Democratic ads about abortion rights.
The issue is not going away.
The democrats ARE the extremists, with abortion up till the time of birth including partial-birth abortion!
New Jersey isn’t ready for an all-out ban, however, the Republicans need to run on no abortion after 15 weeks. Even a leftist state like NJ will support that. As the late NY democrat senator Patrick Moynahan and democrat Mayor Koch had said,” Partial-birth abortion is INFANTASIDE!”
During this election, abortion is last on my list of concerns to be perfectly honest.
I am more concerned with cost of living and inflation. I I just want to the US dollar to hold value.
Anyway, as a female in my mid 30s, I don’t have an issue with women having the right to choice. I do, however have an issue with the NJ law that allows abortions up until birth. I also have an issue, with our tax dollars paying for such procedures.
I am so upset with our economy and current events, that I don’t even see the point in voting anymore (left or right). I don’t see things getting better regardless of the party or political candidate.
-discouraged citizen
Partial-birth is a paranoid BS excuse, Republicans are afraid of things that don’t even exist. Yet not afraid of things that do. Everything is Democrats fault when it’s mostly only your leaders who are at fault. Because they suck up to the wealthy and if you aren’t wealthy? You get NOTHING! Most Americans are NOT WEALTHY! 72% of Americans are NOT WEALTHY, & I bet you fit in that category. But you still vote for people who even if they win? NEVER do ANYTHING to help you! Because you aren’t wealthy and DONT MATTER to them. Centrist Democrats in this state are the same way! Joe Biden told average Americans he wasn’t going to do anything for them? Yet they all voted for him anyway. Your candidates are the same & you still vote for them too. Because Americans pay little to no attention to much of anything at all. And just vote Red or Blue NO MATTER WHAT! I used to do that, when I was Young & Stupid. I’m NOT Young or Stupid and NEVER VOTING for someone who will do NOTHING for me. Which is BOTH PARTIES! I haven’t voted Blue at the federal level since 2016, or at the state level since 2014. And in my town since 2004. because Democrats ARE NOT Democrats. And I’m certainly never voting Republican. So I don’t vote.
Yes, nothing will ever get better, unless you are wealthy. BOTH Parties ONLY support the Wealthy. 72% of Americans are NOT WEALTHY! They think they are but are just ashamed to admit they aren’t. So they LIE! And support candidates who ONLY CARE ABOUT Wealthy People. And if you aren’t wealthy? Why do you vote for them? Out of the BS FEAR FACTOR BOTH Parties create? Once again a sign you shouldn’t vote for that person? American Voters cause most of their own problems. By voting for candidates they should NEVER vote for. Joe Biden said he wasn’t fundamentally going to change things? That means he’s not going to do anything to help my situation. Hillary Clinton didn’t say? But showed it in every fiber o her being. She also didn’t get my vote either. I trust no Democrats, but that also doesn’t mean I will vote for a Republican. Because I may as well just exit this planet, if I did that!
This article shows how incredibly out of touch NJ Democrats are. Instead of talking about the real issues affecting everyday New Jerseyans, they decide to hyper-focus on an issue that very few NJ Republican legislators or candidates have on their radar. Unlike Democrats, Republicans in NJ listen to their constituents and focus on the issues affecting them the most. Democrats try to project the opinions and policies of National Republicans onto NJ Republicans. The hyperbole of Democrats in their attacks is laughable. I hope they continue being so out of touch until November.
Vote Republican if you want a return to small government, lower taxes, lower crime, and age appropriate education.