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Budowsky: Women are going to be the superstars of the midterms

by Brent Budowsky, opinion contributor - 09/07/22 7:15 AM ET

First-time voter Baylee Fidler, 19, waits in the doorway for a voting booth as a man completes his vote at the voting booth — First-time voter Baylee Fidler, 19, waits in the doorway for a voting booth as Tom Davis, background, completes his ballot at the Boot City Opry near Terre Haute, Ind., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. As the 2022 midterm elections enter their final two-month sprint, leading Republicans concede that their party’s advantage may be slipping even as Democrats confront their president’s weak standing, deep voter pessimism and the weight of history this fall. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)

Tom Bonier, CEO of data and polling firm TargetSmart and a nationally respected elections expert, recently wrote a guest op-ed in the New York Times titled: “Women are so fired up to vote, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

It seems likely that when the midterm votes are counted, women will be viewed as the superstars of the 2022 elections, rallying in large numbers, with high turnout, after enormous voter registration.

This will include women of all ages, races, religions and political ideologies. This will include principled female conservatives and Republicans who will battle with their votes for the soul not only of our country but, in the case of moderate and principled conservative Republicans, of their party.

It is fine to criticize far-right Republicans, but President Biden and Democrats should reach out to moderate and moderately conservative independents, as well as moderate and principled conservative Republicans, to join them for this one election, at this one moment.

This would make an outstanding prime-time address for the president, going the distance supporting the movement to register all voters, but female voters especially, to lift our country with decency and protect our country from extremism.

And — this is critically important — every reference to “MAGA Republicans” should be accompanied by an equal, or greater reference, extending Democratic hands to moderate Republicans and principled conservatives who publicly or privately would vote to protect the GOP from falling into the hands of extremism.

With one of the most important midterm elections in a century rapidly approaching, major events that explain what is happening are in progress across the landscape of American politics.

Biden and Democrats have enacted an impressive range of major initiatives that have elevated the president’s political standing and the performance of Democrats in match-up polling, a trend I have emphasized in recent columns.

It is imperative to inform voters, again and again and in depth, of these important initiatives, which will lower the cost of prescription drugs, improve health care for veterans and other Americans, combat gun violence, protect Earth from climate change and create American jobs that will help rebuild our nation and restore our technological leadership.

Former President Trump has succeeded in dominating the Republican Party, leading to countless nominees for state and federal office who are far to the extreme right compared to historic Republicans and conservatives. Many outright deny the results of the 2020 presidential election. Others aggressively threaten retribution against those they treat as political enemies, including moderate Republicans, if they win the 2022 midterms.

In one of the most politically and legally radical and consequential events in modern history, the Supreme Court, defying five decades of legal precedent, overturned Roe v. Wade and destroyed the constitutional right to abortion for women.

As I and numerous other analysts have been suggesting for months, the backlash from women and other aggrieved groups has been dramatic and powerful. There is now an extraordinary surge of women, young people and others, outraged and alarmed by the movement to the far right by Trump, Republicans and the Supreme Court, registering to vote in the coming midterms.

Bonier is right. An internet search for stories about “female voter registration” will find numerous stories documenting a significant rise in voter registration from women, young people and others who are outraged, fearful and alarmed by the consequences of electing a far-right Republican Congress operating alongside a far-right Supreme Court majority.

By working with women’s groups, Democrats can turn a trend into a wave by mobilizing female Hollywood stars, female teachers and workers, female athletic stars and courageous female veterans.

Women will be the midterm superstars if they register and vote as though the future of our country depends on it. It does.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives.