Mojo is defined in Marriam-Webster as: a magic spell, hex, or charm … and clearly where it was needed for Tuesday’s elections --- well it just could not be found. Close to home I had my eye on the elections taking place in Virginia. After all Glenn Youngkin had the Mojo – It was clear, the poles showed he had the Mojo – He was going to increase the Republican seats in the House of Delegates and flip the Virginia State Senate giving him a Republican super majority for his remaining two years. And that Mojo was going to carry him right into the White House.
Youngkin had the right answer to the volatile abortion issue. A compromise that would work for everyone. He had the Mojo; he proposed a 15-week ban that would isolate the “extremist” Democrats. What he got was his head handed to him in the form of a Democrat super majority legislature and a crash landing on his way to the Presidency. Oh, there was big money in play here and in the last week the Dems started to push their strategy – Keep the Senate and flip the House. Their Mojo – well that clear, it’s the issue of abortion.
We can see that the Dems Mojo is much more powerful when we shift our sights to the voting in Ohio. There were only two issues on the ballot in the very Red State of Ohio – a state constitutional amendment to make it a right for a woman to have an abortion right up to the time birth. This outcome will undo the 2019 state law passed by Republicans that banned most abortions after fetal cardiac activity with no exceptions for rape or incest. But there was another issue on the ballot – Should Ohio legalize marijuana for adult recreational use becoming the 24th state to do so. The Dems Mojo – getting both issues on the ballot at the same time insuring that the pot heads voted with the baby killers - A winning combination that resulted in a 56.6% to 43.4% approval.
The irony here is that in March of ’23 the Republicans in the Ohio State Legislature proposed a measure that required any changes to the state constitution required a 60% supermajority threshold vote to change the state constitution. In August ’23 Ohio voters resoundingly rejected the measure keeping the threshold to pass a simple majority. Fast forward to November 7 ’23 and the measure to change the state constitution passes by a simple majority vote of 56.6%. Now that my friends is Mojo!
Now just to be clear the Republicans won a few of the battles on November 7th , but they won where abortion as a ballot issue was not on the ballot. When I was a young Lieutenant in the US Army a smart Platoon Sargent once said to me: “Lieutenant, when you find yourself standing between two shiny rails and there is a light coming at you it’s probably a train”.
You can’t argue with the logic so when you see the light you had better move.
There was a clear message given to Republicans on Nov 7th and I am afraid they are not paying attention. They are standing between the shine rails of the abortion issue – and the light coming toward them is the Democrat voting machine in November 0f 2024. No amount of Mojo is going to move the needle on this issue. And if that is the case than maybe it is time to rethink this issue. No abortion after 6 weeks – that dog don’t hunt and compromise on 12 weeks to 15 weeks clearly is not the answer. So what are the Republicans to do?
The issue needs to be left to the state legislatures – If they do what just happened in Ohio because that is what the voters really want – so be it. Step out from between the shiny rails – talk about the economy, the price of gas, grocery’s and home mortgages. Focus on the damage being inflicted by the “New Green Deal”. Let the voters know what will happen if the country keeps stifling oil drilling because they think windmills will provide them electricity for all their needs. Focus on the issues of the day – crime in your neighborhoods stolen and hijacked cars, smash and grab crimes, defunding of the police. Rising taxes imposed by local politicians who don’t know how to manage the resources that taxpayers have provided.
Stop talking down early voting and start talking it up. Ballot harvesting is legal in most jurisdictions and Republicans need to get busy at the senior living facilities. Mail in voting – we may not like it but it appears that it is hear to stay so Republicans need to get jiggy with it.
So the question that lingers – Abortion … how can conservatives and Republicans address that. Clearly they can’t. No answer short of what was passed by the voters of Ohio will satisfy the voters of America. Where is can be managed I say do it. I am not a supporter of the Ohio solution, but I am reminded of those shine rails and recognize that if we don’t jump out of the way … you know the rest.
If you want to win elections than its time to focus on those “kitchen table issues” around which you can convince voters that the Party of Limited Government is a better choice than the Party of Marxists.
As distasteful as it is we have lost the abortion fight despite the Dobbs Decision. The decision to have an abortion is a decision that must be reconciled between the woman and her God.
If the Republicans can find their way out of the abortion morass there is a high probability that they will recaptured their Mojo as well.
Marc, you're absolutely right. Republican politicians should de-emphasize their opinions on abortion while supporting (behind the scenes) right-thinking advocacy groups in their work of convincing individual women to consider alternatives to abortion. As you say, Republican politicians have so much other fodder to bring to the fight and win elections again. The fact that most can't see that shows what my favorite talk show radio host, Chris Plante, says -- that "Democrats are the Evil Party and Republicans are the Stupid Party".
The Republicans have lost their Mojo and more. Only a few really stand out with their views. It’s the Party of talk but no collective action on how to win. They don’t stand by each other/Party. RNC leadership and game plan is a joke. So where do we go from here???? NBB