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Jennifer A's avatar

The case against despair remains firmly rooted in watching the GOP continue to dick punch themselves with ever more restrictive assaults on a woman's right to control her bodily autonomy. The more they double down on legislation that effectively makes abortion illegal the more confident I get that polling can take a long walk off a short pier. Women and young voters are going to SPANK the GOP for this, I firmly believe. Now that's not to say voting restrictions and the electoral college and sundry incursions against proper ballot counting by GOP operatives is not wildly concerning, but overall, I don't think the media really understands the full force of the anger out there.

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Liberal Cynic's avatar

Any post referencing Republicans dick punching themselves gets an automatic upvote. 👍

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Mary Brownell's avatar

Yes, I also got a kick (!?) out of the "dick punch" image. I tried to picture what that would look like and didn't have much luck!

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Liberal Cynic's avatar

I bet you could google it. Just turn "safe search" off first.

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Victoria Brown's avatar

Incognito 😉

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Jeannette Benavides's avatar

I agree Jennifer, it is better to get angry and vote than to despair. I don't live my life in despair, no matter what, but I am angry about the war on women coming from republicans and their Christo fascists. I will vote for Biden of course. Not because he is not as bad as Trump but because he is the opposite of Trump as a human being and President in every way.

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JF's avatar

My feelings of optimism about the youth vote (I have supported David Hogg’s group) have been diluted by their baffling support for Hamas, with unmistakable antisemitic overtones. That has shaken me.

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suzc's avatar

I think there is a difference between Palestinians and HAMAS that a lot of younger people seem unable to differentiate. I can be equally appalled at Hamas and Netanayahoo.

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JF's avatar

And a salient point within that paradigm is that Israelis took to the streets against their own government which had gone awry; Palestinians have acquiesced to Hamas.

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Lynn Van Haren's avatar

I think the kids do differentiate. They are pro Palestinian people, not pro Hamas

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Colleen Kochivar-Baker's avatar

The pro Palestinian kids are not nearly the threat racist MAGA'ts have proven to be for every group not white skinned and that includes Jews. I'll get more worried if the kids get really violent and start parading with AR15's. Come November 2024, these kids won't be voting for Trump.

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Kathy Balles's avatar

They won’t vote for Trump, but they just might not vote at all - just as bad.

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JF's avatar

I wish I had your confidence that they won’t vote Trump. To me, those two acts (supporting Hamas/supporting Trump) are equally horrible, and naturally adjacent.

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Colleen Kochivar-Baker's avatar

They won't vote Trump because most of them are supporting Palestine against the 'colonial occupier'. They think they are supporting the underdog instead of a rabid dog. Come November other issues like abortion, guns, climate change, and LGBTQ issues will compete for attention. Trump does not win on any of those. They may not vote Biden, but they definitely won't vote Trump. At least not in any real numbers.

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Scott Gaynor's avatar

Or they sit home, which is just as bad for Biden/democracy.

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JF's avatar

You make a good case. But Trump and Hamas share a vile basic: “The cruelty is the point”. And the kids seem on board. Time will tell.

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Douglas Peterson's avatar

"They think they are supporting the underdog instead of a rabid dog."

Added to my list of "metaphors to remember."

Thanks!

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Cheerio's avatar

Yeah, these are not the tiki-torch carriers.

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Paul K. Ogden's avatar

Optimism that young people will vote at high levels is always foolish

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JF's avatar

I wasn’t thinking so much of them voting or not voting; more which way they would vote.

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Paul K. Ogden's avatar

There are plenty of women who don't support your position on abortion. Men, in fact, are more supportive of abortion rights than women.

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Jennifer A's avatar

Citation please. Because otherwise I'm going to say you pulled that just directly out of your ass. Gallup polling in 2022 finds pro choice adults overall =55%, women =61%, adults under 35 = 67%. It's hard to find another issue that gets over 60% in politics, so my point stands.

Also: "support for abortion being legal under any or most circumstances jumped among Democrats, jumping from 69% to 82%, and among adults aged 18 to 34, rising from 52% to 63%. It's higher among women (59%) than men (45%)."

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/03/1102872199/gallup-poll-pro-choice-roe-v-wade-supreme-court

So, you are categorically wrong. Not with the idea that some women don't share my opinion (it's likely a driving reason there are ANY Republican women voters), but with the idea that men are more supportive. But nice try!

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rlritt's avatar

Not only that. The woman I know who are most angry are middle class white Republican woman. They believe it is the worst government intrusion into their lives.

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rlritt's avatar

You cannot be more wrong. There are woman who fought for Roe vs Wade and its being overturned has turned them rabid. Woman young and old are furious that lawmakers can take away a right (even if they never exercise it) that belongs solely to them.

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Micah Grossman's avatar

This gets forgotten all the time because it runs counter to the battle of the sexes narrative that engulfs this topic

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Jennifer A's avatar

It is also not true. Not sure where y'all are sourcing this nonsense POV.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/245618/abortion-trends-gender.aspx

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Micah Grossman's avatar

Must have been an older study. I just checked Pew Center and they're showing pretty close tracking between men and women by age cohort from a report in April.

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Jennifer A's avatar

Still 64% support by women and 60% men, which is a heartening increase in male support. But in no way shape or form is "men, in fact, are more supportive of abortion rights than women" true.

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Still Trying's avatar

I have seen some numbers in the past that have more antichoice women than men, too, ,I don't think it was ever a huge lead. Still, it's a point that tends to get lost; and it's partly because of the optics of a bunch of old, white men making stupid laws that ignore medical facts. The antichoice women are less visible, but they're there in big numbers.

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