Kristal Knight: It is 'naive' to think abortion alone will carry Democrats to victory
Democratic strategist Kristal Knight and IWF Center for Economic Opportunity director Patrice Onwuka debate which party currently has the upper hand as the midterms approach on 'Your World.'
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, giving the states the authority to place restrictions on abortion, Democrats went all in on the issue and made it a focal point of midterm messaging, despite other pressing voter concerns.
Under President Biden's leadership, inflation hit a 40-year-high, rising to 8.2% in September, and American families have personally felt the pains of rising gas prices, groceries and struggling to make everyday payments as a result of the current economic climate.
Well over 2 million migrants have illegally crossed into the U.S. through the southern border this fiscal year, not including an additional 600,000 gotaways. Additionally, crime spiked across the U.S. in the first six months of 2022, with cities specifically seeing an increase in aggravated assault and robberies, according to a recent report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Despite these issues being detrimental to a majority of voters, Democrats spent $320 million campaigning on abortion this election cycle, while neglecting other pressing issues that are of top importance to voters. According to AdImpact, Democrats only spent $31 million on advertisements addressing inflation and about $140 million on ads regarding crime.
ABORTIONS EQUAL JOB GROWTH, DEMOCRATS ARGUE IN CLOSING DAYS OF ELECTION
A group of anti-abortion protesters crashes the Women's March Action Rally for Reproductive Rights. (David McNew)
Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, said the Democrats midterm strategy reveals that their messaging does not align with the issues effecting American voters.
"The radical left continues to ignore Americans' real, everyday concerns, like skyrocketing inflation and rising crime," Hayek told Fox News Digital. "They’ve ignored the moms who couldn’t get formula for their babies, workers who can’t afford to fill up their gas tanks, or families who are afraid to allow their children to play in the front yard. And not only have they ignored those issues, but their extreme stance on abortion, allowing it up to the moment of birth, is also out of touch with most Americans," Hayek said.
"They are unable to defend their rhetoric or their record, and they don’t have a winning message," she added.
Christy Setzer, who was a spokesperson for the presidential campaigns of former Vice President Al Gore and Howard Dean, defended the Democrats focus on abortion in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"It’s easy to second-guess strategy and messaging in the final days before an election, but Democrats’ plan to highlight abortion is a good one: It puts Republicans on the defensive on an issue the vast majority of Americans disagree with them on," Setzer said.
Food prices in the New York area have jumped more than 9% in the last year, the steepest in the last 40 years, according to the BLS. Inflation is hitting poor and working-class New Yorkers, immigrants and the food pantries that support them. (John Smith/VIEWpress)
"No one wants extreme abortion bans that force 11-year-olds to have their rapists’ babies — except for most Republicans running for office," Setzer added. "And of course, abortion isn’t the only issue Democrats are running on: They’re also touting the Biden Administration’s record low unemployment and investments in clean energy, while pointing out that Republicans have no plans for inflation or the economy or crime, because they’re too focused on trying to overturn the last election."
A recent New York Times national poll found that only 5% of likely voters view abortion as the number one issue currently facing the country, while the 26% believe the economy and 18% inflation to be the top issues. The New York Times survey was conducted Oct. 9 to 12 with a margin of error of 4.0 percentage points.
Immigration is at the top of the ticket this November as a record number of illegal immigrants continue to cross the border. (John Moore/Getty Images)
In November, a Marist Polling survey revealed that 36% of respondents see inflation as top of mind, as opposed to 14% who say abortion. The poll was conducted Oct. 24-27 with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
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"The American people have been crystal clear for months their top concerns are rising prices, the economy, and crime, and Democrats bet their majorities on a strategy that ignores those issues. You can’t blatantly ignore what concerns voters most and think they will re-elect you," Erin Perrine, former spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, told Fox News Digital. "Democrats think voters are ignorant, and that's the kind of elitist thinking that gets you swept out of office."
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