The American Dream, Abortion, Ukraine and Courting Older Voters

Today's top stories.

Republicans’ Three Paths on Abortion

What the post-Dobbs facts and politics are starting to look like for the GOP

Jim Swift:

Republican politicians in or seeking elected office, especially those in the midterms just ten weeks away, have watched how abortion has rapidly become a much more important issue to registered voters. There are now essentially three paths available to them—three choices, based on their personalities and principles, and their assessment of where their voters stand.

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Putin Thinks He Can Wait Out U.S. Support for Ukraine

Americans need to be reminded why the war matters for them.

Eric S. Edelman:

But, the issue here is that the war has settled into a kind of stalemate. Russia’s made no appreciable gains in the last two months or so. And the prospect of victory requires the Ukrainians to continue to be able to wear down the Russian military so that they can ultimately either take back territory themselves in a counteroffensive, or break down the Russian military so it withdraws, as it did from the vicinity of Kyiv and Kharkiv, a couple of months ago, and thereby thwarting Putin’s strategic objectives.

And so, while I think all of us who signed that letter felt somewhat vindicated by the administration’s decision to go ahead with a $3 billion package, I still think they’re being a little bit more cautious than they ought to be. But, you know, they’ve done some things well, to be sure, including management of the alliance and holding the alliance together.

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Biden Is Going on Offense To Court Older Voters

Forgiving student debt is for the youngs. The Inflation Reduction Act's hidden moves to stabilize healthcare costs are for the olds.

Daniel McGraw:

“Every single Republican in Congress voted against lowering prescription drug prices, against lowering healthcare costs, against a fairer tax system,” Biden said.

Democrats may be realizing that retirees on Social Security/Medicare in Pittsburgh are more important in the midterms than some 30-year-old electric vehicle buyers in Los Angeles who think that a $7,500 tax credit on an EV can help save the planet.

Whether they realize it or not, they have an opportunity now to force the GOP into a corner by asking why they are against solutions that affect the over-65 crowd.

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How the American Dream Became a Political Cudgel

And how it makes it harder for us to have serious policy debates.

Theodore R. Johnson:

Most interesting, though, is that Ulloa notes how Republicans of color, many of them first- and second-generation citizens, are increasingly featuring the American Dream in their electoral campaigns. They cite the importance of self-determination, opportunity, and economic security in an appeal to attributes of America that immigrants and historically marginalized groups have long treasured. And then, in the very next breath, they cite the American Dream to attack Democratic social policy and label the left a horde of citizen ingrates. Suddenly, Dream killers become anyone who doesn’t support the Big Lie, who opposes building a border wall, who disagrees with critical race theory witch hunts in public schools, or who fails to co-sign various Trumpist anti-democratic activities. These MAGA Republicans conflate the Dream and its universal, welcoming appeal with a divisive and revanchist illiberalism.

The political weaponization of the American Dream—by either side in our politics—also poses another problem: It merges foundational but distinct concepts central to the American way of life in harmful ways, thereby undercutting our ability to have meaningful conversations about policy differences.