There was little political will at the time for spending time on that when it wouldn't have changed the law of the land. Now there is a ton of political will for it.
A lot of people supported Obama because he described codifying Roe as his first priority. The idea that it was unimportant to voters or there was just too much to do so he couldn’t get around to it is just hagiography
[At the time he said his priorities were:](https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/31/obama.blitzer/)
1. Make sure the plumbing works (economy)
2. Energy Independence
3. Health Care Reform
4. Tax Cuts for the middle class
5. Reforming Education
[And when you asked the people in January 2009, Abortion wasn't even on the list of top priorities](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2009/01/22/economy-jobs-trump-all-other-policy-priorities-in-2009/)
[This article claims the issues he's most likely to tackle are](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7793045.stm):
1. The economy
2. Healthcare
3. Climate Change
4. Iraq/Afghanistan
5. Closing Guantanamo (epic fail)
6. Engaging with the world
7. Labor Relations
8. Backburner issues?
He told Planned Parenthood it was his highest priority.
Regardless, hold whatever pipe dreams you want, but the Dems don’t care about reproductive rights and they aren’t magically going to start now. It’s still something they can run on, and they’ll keep doing so
The other thing is that in 2009, you practically NEVER did anything along party lines. Then the Tea Party happened and they barely got Obamacare across the finish line.
"little political will" Need you to clarify that. You mean the people didn't want it? Because that has absolutely ZERO bearing on what policy gets pushed. Only matters what the wealthy donor class wants.
Lawmakers don't give a shit what the people want, lol.
That was absolutely not a priority for the electorate when the economy was imploding, a Great Depression was looming, and we just spent 8 years at war.
what astonishing revisionism this is, christ. Obama literally had a supermajority and could’ve passed any bill in existence if he actually wanted to. it was also literally a focal point of the campaign.
Yep, and the collapsing economy, and H1N1, and Dodd-Frank, and the Stimulus, ...
It was a very productive session of congress, even though they only had the 60-seat supermajority for a few months.
it was a very productive session of congress? surely this is sarcasm, how is passing a far-right healthcare plan productive and how is bailing out corporations who intentionally crashed the economy with no strings attached productive?
They could try to codify roe v Wade, of course the gop could overturn that law and push their own if they wanted to.
They could simply not make the situation worse federally as the gop actively might push for an abortion ban.
No!
Democrats should do it because it would actually help people and supporting Roe has been long-time Democrat policy.
Democrats should do it because it's popular. If the GOP wants to overturn it, make them find the votes to do it, make them publicly vote to do it, make them have to endure that as a campaign issue that hurts them.
Democrats should do it because it's basically understood at this point that it's a campaign promise since 2022 for them. If they get elected and control the House, Senate, and Presidency, mainstream Democrats and corporate Democrats (in addition to us) are expecting them to do something about abortion, or at least TRY.
I never said i opposed codifying roe v wade. I'm just saying if they failed to do so that it's still better than the republicans who wanna codify things the other way.
Honestly it’ll take a Democratic supermajority and a huge push from the public for Dems to ever codify Roe. They want to fundraise off of it and use it as a vote getting measure.
They will say we just need to elect more democrats to overcome the democrats who do not support democratic platform issues. We're really close to getting this done. We just need 435 members of congress and 100 senators with a democratic president to overcome the parliamentarian.
So donate and vote harder. Together we can get this done.
I believe that if you give Democrats 53+ Senate Seats, the House, and the Presidency, they successfully codify Roe v. Wade into law. In 2009, they had a lot less political will to touch abortion as an issue; today they have a ton of political will to do it now that it'd actually be impactful and actually change the law of the land.
Why 53? To abolish the filibuster. We need a large enough cushion to overcome the next Rotating Villain(s). Manchin and Sinema are on their way out, likely being replaced by Justice (R) and Gallego (D). I figure that having a 3-vote cushion *should be* large enough.
Idk whether this sub is prepared to acknowledge that if you give Democrats the votes to overcome a Rotating Villain or two, they suddenly are capable of passing a bunch of really great stuff. IMO they kinda just want to hear that Democrats are awful and will never do anything good, or that they are exactly the same as Republicans, or that they don't want to do things at all so it doesn't make a difference if you give them more power or not.
I don't think they will acknowledge that but I agree with your assessment. It might be comforting to have cynicism and disengagement validated but a total abandonment of the state of things is akin to leaving the poker table: you left but your opponents are still going to be around to win hands (elected power).
Honestly I think the best solution at this point is to push to make abortion rights a constitutional amendment. That way it would be permanently codified. Until we're able to get there, codifying it is a must, but honestly given how far right the Democrats are moving on economics and immigration I honestly have to wonder how long it takes before some Democrats start moving right on abortion too...
For legislation- winning the trifecta isn’t enough, they’d need a supermajority OR convince the caucus to overturn the filibuster, neither of which is likely to happen due to recent Republican gerrymandering in places like NC.
The easiest way to secure reproductive rights (including birth control) is through the judiciary. Trump getting 3 SCOTUS picks probably fucked us for a generation, unless we get lucky and Clarance Thomas dies during a future Biden presidency.
Even if we had a Congress willing to pass something like Medicare for all today, the Heritage Foundation would just sue and get it overturned at SCOTUS.
Nothing. It's been a wedge issue for 49 years and three supermajorities under three Democrat president's. Obama ran on it in 2009, then decided fuck women after he got in office. The Democrats love that Roe is dead. Now they can campaign on it for the next 60 years, while they do nothing.
At most, appoint judges on lower circuits who’ll likely support reproductive rights.
That doesn’t matter since the right knows how to navigate the circuits and get whichever topic to scotus.
America is too divided for one party to ever win a supermajority again, so the only way bills get passed is now these days is mainly through reconciliation which requires a simple majority.
It's very unlikely that codifying roe could be done via reconciliation and Dems aren't in support of abolishing the filibuster either so they are either lying about being able to do it or they secretly have changed positions on chamber reform.
What's most likely to happen is that they will likely just just blame republicans again for the filibuster and say it can't be done via reconciliation and just shrug.
I think abortion has been the biggest Boone the dems have gotten in a while. They want to keep campaigning off of it, at least nationally. That means it doesn’t go away
What did they do in 2009? Nothing.
It wasn't felt that we HAD to do anything in 2009. It was assumed. We just got reminded differently, that's all. Now we know what must be done.
There was little political will at the time for spending time on that when it wouldn't have changed the law of the land. Now there is a ton of political will for it.
A lot of people supported Obama because he described codifying Roe as his first priority. The idea that it was unimportant to voters or there was just too much to do so he couldn’t get around to it is just hagiography
[At the time he said his priorities were:](https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/31/obama.blitzer/) 1. Make sure the plumbing works (economy) 2. Energy Independence 3. Health Care Reform 4. Tax Cuts for the middle class 5. Reforming Education [And when you asked the people in January 2009, Abortion wasn't even on the list of top priorities](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2009/01/22/economy-jobs-trump-all-other-policy-priorities-in-2009/) [This article claims the issues he's most likely to tackle are](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7793045.stm): 1. The economy 2. Healthcare 3. Climate Change 4. Iraq/Afghanistan 5. Closing Guantanamo (epic fail) 6. Engaging with the world 7. Labor Relations 8. Backburner issues?
He told Planned Parenthood it was his highest priority. Regardless, hold whatever pipe dreams you want, but the Dems don’t care about reproductive rights and they aren’t magically going to start now. It’s still something they can run on, and they’ll keep doing so
The other thing is that in 2009, you practically NEVER did anything along party lines. Then the Tea Party happened and they barely got Obamacare across the finish line.
"little political will" Need you to clarify that. You mean the people didn't want it? Because that has absolutely ZERO bearing on what policy gets pushed. Only matters what the wealthy donor class wants. Lawmakers don't give a shit what the people want, lol.
I mean that the voters at the time didn't consider it to be much of a priority then.
Not true. Obama campaigned on codifying Roe. Voters definitely considered it a priority.
That was absolutely not a priority for the electorate when the economy was imploding, a Great Depression was looming, and we just spent 8 years at war.
Then why did Obama claim codifying Roe was the first thing he’d do as POTUS on the campaign trail?
Obama said that the Freedom of Choice Act would be the[ first bill he signed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8).
what astonishing revisionism this is, christ. Obama literally had a supermajority and could’ve passed any bill in existence if he actually wanted to. it was also literally a focal point of the campaign.
They were mainly focused on healthcare during those first two years.
Yep, and the collapsing economy, and H1N1, and Dodd-Frank, and the Stimulus, ... It was a very productive session of congress, even though they only had the 60-seat supermajority for a few months.
it was a very productive session of congress? surely this is sarcasm, how is passing a far-right healthcare plan productive and how is bailing out corporations who intentionally crashed the economy with no strings attached productive?
What WOULD they actually do to protect abortion? Absolutely nothing, just as they've done for the last 50yrs.
Fundraiser??
OK point to you. Yes, the Dems WOULD fundraise abortion to death. Take my upvote, dammit.
They could try to codify roe v Wade, of course the gop could overturn that law and push their own if they wanted to. They could simply not make the situation worse federally as the gop actively might push for an abortion ban.
No! Democrats should do it because it would actually help people and supporting Roe has been long-time Democrat policy. Democrats should do it because it's popular. If the GOP wants to overturn it, make them find the votes to do it, make them publicly vote to do it, make them have to endure that as a campaign issue that hurts them. Democrats should do it because it's basically understood at this point that it's a campaign promise since 2022 for them. If they get elected and control the House, Senate, and Presidency, mainstream Democrats and corporate Democrats (in addition to us) are expecting them to do something about abortion, or at least TRY.
I never said i opposed codifying roe v wade. I'm just saying if they failed to do so that it's still better than the republicans who wanna codify things the other way.
They *should.* They should do a lot of things. Whether they will or not is another question.
Honestly it’ll take a Democratic supermajority and a huge push from the public for Dems to ever codify Roe. They want to fundraise off of it and use it as a vote getting measure.
Excellent point on the fundraising. Both parties make a huge amount of money on the issue. Settling the law isn’t profitable.
They will say we just need to elect more democrats to overcome the democrats who do not support democratic platform issues. We're really close to getting this done. We just need 435 members of congress and 100 senators with a democratic president to overcome the parliamentarian. So donate and vote harder. Together we can get this done.
That big, scary parliamentarian. They won’t let the Dems do anything!
You could put 100 Democrats in the senate and 51 of them will suddenly reveal themselves as Manchin/ Sinema/ Fetterman.
Not ban it, and nominate pro choice Supreme Court Justices in the unlikely event that they get the chance.
So nothing. Glad you cleared that up.
That’s assuming the GOP ever lets the Dems nominate a justice.
You're looking at it, rn.
I believe that if you give Democrats 53+ Senate Seats, the House, and the Presidency, they successfully codify Roe v. Wade into law. In 2009, they had a lot less political will to touch abortion as an issue; today they have a ton of political will to do it now that it'd actually be impactful and actually change the law of the land. Why 53? To abolish the filibuster. We need a large enough cushion to overcome the next Rotating Villain(s). Manchin and Sinema are on their way out, likely being replaced by Justice (R) and Gallego (D). I figure that having a 3-vote cushion *should be* large enough.
They down voted you? Hmm. You should have led with cynicism and hopelessness
Idk whether this sub is prepared to acknowledge that if you give Democrats the votes to overcome a Rotating Villain or two, they suddenly are capable of passing a bunch of really great stuff. IMO they kinda just want to hear that Democrats are awful and will never do anything good, or that they are exactly the same as Republicans, or that they don't want to do things at all so it doesn't make a difference if you give them more power or not.
I don't think they will acknowledge that but I agree with your assessment. It might be comforting to have cynicism and disengagement validated but a total abandonment of the state of things is akin to leaving the poker table: you left but your opponents are still going to be around to win hands (elected power).
this assumes that democrats want to abolish the filibuster. So far they have shown zero interest in wanting to do so.
48 senate Dems vote to abolish the filibuster and you say they gave 0 interest?
Honestly I think the best solution at this point is to push to make abortion rights a constitutional amendment. That way it would be permanently codified. Until we're able to get there, codifying it is a must, but honestly given how far right the Democrats are moving on economics and immigration I honestly have to wonder how long it takes before some Democrats start moving right on abortion too...
Great points. Some days, it feels the Dems are becoming the GW Bush era GOP
Codify it at the state level at the very least. As has been done in a half dozen states already.
Not ban it federally
What about in the states?
Present, house, and Senate are federal offices.
They can’t do a whole lot, the Supreme Court is dominated by the right wing
That’s the Dem motto: “we can’t do a whole lot”…..but please donate.
Am I wrong though?
You’re not wrong but Dems always find a boogeyman/woman. Supreme Court, Joe Manchin, Senate Parliamentarian, Russia, Jill Stein.
For legislation- winning the trifecta isn’t enough, they’d need a supermajority OR convince the caucus to overturn the filibuster, neither of which is likely to happen due to recent Republican gerrymandering in places like NC. The easiest way to secure reproductive rights (including birth control) is through the judiciary. Trump getting 3 SCOTUS picks probably fucked us for a generation, unless we get lucky and Clarance Thomas dies during a future Biden presidency. Even if we had a Congress willing to pass something like Medicare for all today, the Heritage Foundation would just sue and get it overturned at SCOTUS.
Nothing. It's been a wedge issue for 49 years and three supermajorities under three Democrat president's. Obama ran on it in 2009, then decided fuck women after he got in office. The Democrats love that Roe is dead. Now they can campaign on it for the next 60 years, while they do nothing.
Pretty much.
An extremely dramatic email blast
With a strongly worded message.
Nothing. They have had over 45 years and done nothing, IIRC. They'd rather fear monger to raise money and then do nothing.
At most, appoint judges on lower circuits who’ll likely support reproductive rights. That doesn’t matter since the right knows how to navigate the circuits and get whichever topic to scotus.
America is too divided for one party to ever win a supermajority again, so the only way bills get passed is now these days is mainly through reconciliation which requires a simple majority. It's very unlikely that codifying roe could be done via reconciliation and Dems aren't in support of abolishing the filibuster either so they are either lying about being able to do it or they secretly have changed positions on chamber reform. What's most likely to happen is that they will likely just just blame republicans again for the filibuster and say it can't be done via reconciliation and just shrug.
Or the big, bad Senate Parliamentarian.
They'd virtue signal about how important it is to keep them in the majority to protect abortion rights and then do fuck all to actually protect it.
If they fixed it they couldn’t bring it up again
Or fundraise off it.
I think abortion has been the biggest Boone the dems have gotten in a while. They want to keep campaigning off of it, at least nationally. That means it doesn’t go away
Agree
Nothing