Republicans Bob, Weave and Lie on Abortion

If Republicans' outcoming in the coming mid-term elections proves to be something other than a "red wave" - one piece predicted a red puddle - much of the blame will fall upon the religious extremist majority on the U.S. Supreme Court and the fanatics of the party base who want to dictate to women what they can do with their own bodies (their desire to erase the right of privacy as hinted by Clarence Thomas doesn't help the GOP's plight either).  Mitch McConnell who engineered the packing of the Court with liars and extremists now cautions that the Court's handiwork combined with a number of horrendous MAGA candidates might make it difficult for the GOP to retake control of the U.S. Senate.  All of these problems are self-inflicted and on the abortion front the contortions and lies the Republican candidates are engaging in is stunning.  Some are trying to pretend they did not say things caught on video, sometimes in their own primary campaign materials - locally Elaine Luria's opponent is hoping women forget her own primary ads.  Another example is Blake Masters in Arizona pictured above who is lying incessantly on the issue.  A piece in Politico looks at the Republican bobbing, weaving and, of courseoutright lying now in full force.  Here are excerpts:

Democrats have been hammering GOP candidates on abortion since the fall of Roe v. Wade. That’s left some Republicans scrambling to try to figure out how to soften the blow.

A number of Republicans are trying to avoid political fallout from the Dobbs decision by quietly deemphasizing their past position on abortion on campaign websites and on the trail. Another handful of GOP candidates — especially those in contests in states that are more of a reach for the party — have gone up with TV ads looking to counter Democrats’ attacks on abortion.

Among the earliest Republicans pushing back on the issue on TV was Mark Ronchetti, a one-time TV meteorologist who is challenging Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico this year, after losing a close race for the state’s open Senate seat two years ago.

“I’m personally pro-life, but I believe we can all come together on a policy that reflects our shared values,” Ronchetti says in the ad, saying that Lujan Grisham was “extreme” on abortion. “We can end late-term abortion, while protecting access to contraception and health care.”

Still, Democrats continue to hammer away at him, saying he is not being honest. A recent ad from Planned Parenthood Votes says “the real Ronchetti would take away a women’s right to control her own body,” tying him to strident anti-abortion groups like Right To Life that supported his Senate campaign last cycle, during which Ronchetti’s website described him as “strongly pro-life” and said that “life should be protected — at all stages.”

Some other Republicans have moved to decentralize opposing abortion in other parts of their campaign. Republican Blake Masters pushed out a Twitter video last week attacking Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) as extreme on abortion . . . . But Masters’ own website once read that he supported a “federal personhood law” and declared him “100 percent pro-life” — lines which have since been scrubbed from his site, NBC News first reported. His campaign website, under the subhead “protect babies, don’t let them be killed,” now reads that the “Democrats lie about my views on abortion” . . . .

Masters had previously told the Arizona Republic that he believes a “personhood law” would provide the foundation to ban third-trimester abortions, while some proponents of that idea say it would ban all abortion.

Another prominent example of website-scrubbing was uncovered recently in Michigan by The Detroit News. State Sen. Tom Barrett, the GOP nominee challenging Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a top swing district, removed a section of his campaign site that touted his opposition to abortion.

Barrett told the Detroit News that he didn’t know why the website was updated but that his position had not changed: he still supports a ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Republican Christian Castelli removed his anti-abortion rights position from his site after winning a May primary to take on Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.). In his second run against Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Republican Tyler Kistner makes no mention of abortion access on his website — though his 2020 site described him as “100% Pro-Life”.

In a newly created Colorado battleground district, Republican Barb Kirkmeyer listed defending “the Sanctity of Life” on an issue page of her website, according to a July 5 archived version of the page. An old version also included a video of her speech at the 2022 March for Life event. Both references now appear to be gone.

Still, the issue has become so big in some Republicans’ campaigns that they’re cutting ads responding to Democrats on abortion. . . . . And some Republicans who have not moderated on abortion have still downplayed it on the trail.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, the GOP gubernatorial nominee there, has championed efforts to ban abortion throughout the state, taking the most strident positions among the Republican primary field. But since then, Pennsylvania-based press has repeatedly noted that the candidate does not bring up the topic as much.

Hopefully, voters will recognize Republicans for the liars that they are - just like the Supreme Court justices who lied during their confirmation interviews - and vote for Democrat candidates.