We need the bench strength.

And Argentina too, I think.

What I'm wondering about is what might lead to complacency on THEIR part.

Hating abortion has been the Holy Grail of WAY too many fundamentalists and anti -choicers. It’s fired up umpteen bajillion CON campaigns for years now. A whole CONservative infrastructure has been built up in opposition to it. So what happens when they finally achieve their goal, at long last?

What I’ll be watching for is - if the wind starts going out of their sails. Their “Cause Celebre” would finally be gone. Over. Done. Check it off the list. No longer such a HUGE thing to rabble rouse about. If this turns into their own personal ”Mission Accomplished,” what’s still there to get all that hot and bothered about anymore? I DO know of, and have read about, people who’ve said they might actually be a Democrat except for abortion, because they agree on almost everything else. But abortion was always the deal-breaker.

Those individuals DO exist, although I’m not sure how many there are. But I’ll tell ya - this new cruelty of jailing babies and yanking little kids away from Mommy or Daddy already has some of these folks back on our doorstep. I just saw a woman at the Portland rally today, as a matter of fact, who carried a hand-made sign announcing herself as a Republican who was now voting for Democrats. She’s not alone now, either.

So what might that mean?

Maybe the most forgiving among us would welcome those “political immigrants” with open arms. I found myself doing exactly as much with that “recovering Republican” woman at the rally today, and murmuring a thank-you into her ear. Positive reinforcement and rewarding good behavior and all those parenting things.

That said, I can EASILY understand and empathize with those who look such a gift horse very closely and coldly logically in the mouth. I get that there could easily be a hesitation, a temptation NOT to trust. I’ve been there, too. There’s always the possibility of a “fair-weather Democrat,” whose awakening we can’t afford to count on. Hey, once bitten, twice shy and all that.
We’ve certainly been burned before, and the instinct to exercis caution is a VERY good thing.

But there is another factor to consider, IMO.

The abortion issue made lots of folks one-issue voters. Kinda did with me, but going the pro-choice direction. So what happens when your issue goes away? And that fire you had in your belly about them damn baby killers now allows you to think you’ve just slain the dragon. And what might a longtime “warrior” do after a battle they may have waged for decades? Rest, maybe? Set down the clubs and brickbats? Lose interest in any more fights that intense or unrelenting? Even nutcases can get tired. Or just sick of it. Or maybe since they’re not getting any younger, might it be time to hang up the gloves? And go get involved in something else? Or just chill, get off the merry-go-round?

There would of course be those who, having tasted a nice mouthful of blood, will only want MORE. But it’s the “mushies” in the middle who might becwinnable, or at least reachable. Many of them have gotten understandably sucked into the vortex of the horrifying current humanitarian crisis at the border. I bet everybody here has personally heard or heard/read about somebody having an epiphany like the woman I hugged at the rally today said she’d had. I bet everyone here has heard some version of “okay, THIS ONE goes too far” or other versions of “had enough” or “crosses the line”. Seems to me THOSE folks can become an asset on and for our side.

Either that or perhaps some will finally decide they’re just simply DONE with politics, outta here, a pox on everybody’s houses everywhere. In which case, some of those fiery GOP supporters might just feel like not bothering this November. I’m guessing that at least some of the fire will start dying out if the big bugaboo of Roe v Wade goes away. The CONS might start losing a little momentum - which will only help OUR side.

Thoughts?

My straight-arrow conservative father-in-law had a similar experience.

He was an MD, an internal medicine specialist. He once recounted a shattering moment while he was out driving. He noticed a girl slumped in the gutter, alone and bleeding. He pulled over to see if he could help and saw she wasn’t merely bleeding. She was hemorrhaging. From a botched back-alley abortion. And she’d collapsed right there on the sidewalk. He evidently realized she needed more help than he could give, right there, so he gathered her into the back of his car and drove her to the hospital - which ended up saving her life.

He said that changed his mind about opposing abortion. He still didn’t approve but he recognized that, whatever one’s opinion about it might be, it was an inevitable fact of life, and that it needed to be safe and legal.

I always admired him for that. If anybody here remembers the old “Marcus Welby” TV drama series, he reminded me of the title character. Kindly old doctor. Quiet and wise. Compassionate. Worthy of the greatest respect. Still miss him.

DEFINITELY bullshit.

I stand with Maxine! Proudly!

I'm CERTAINLY with Maxine.

She’s my gal. Long may she ROAR!!!

That'd work for me.

While incarcerated, Ivanka could design a whole new line of prison wear!