War on Women - the Poll
The GOP’s piper has to be paid, and the Social Conservatives who comprise the majority of the tea party aren’t going to stop in their efforts to outlaw abortion, limit contraception, and destroy family planning. The bell is beginning it’s toll and that bell’s not ringing the Angelus.
Follow up to an analysis we offered last week on the language being used by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell(R) and others, to support passage of that controversial ultrasound bill. A new poll from Quinnipiac University provides strong evidence the abortion issue is one Virginia Republicans would have been better off avoiding.
In a stunning reversal of fortune, both Governor McDonnell and the state legislature suffered noticeable drops in their approval ratings following heated debate over the ultrasound bill in February. That debate drew national attention, helped coin the phrase - “The Republican War on Women” - and led Governor McDonnell to intervene before the damage became too severe.
The governor spent much of the weekend of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. explaining that it was all just a big misunderstanding and that Virginia Republicans simply believe women “have a right to know” that they are indeed pregnant when they are seeking an abortion.
According to Quinnipiac, Virginia voters think state Republicans have a right to know they don’t approve. They’ve gone too far. They’ve “over-reached” in the current vernacular of political sinfulness.
For most of his term in office, McDonnell has been able to cast himself as a relatively moderate Republican, not prone to go off course pursuing divisive social issues. He’s a Rick Snyder(R) Republican - to coin a new phrase. He has maintained approval ratings near 60% or better.
Last week however, Quinnipiac recorded a five point drop in McDonnell’s approval to 53% and the poll director linked it directly to the debate over the invasive ultrasound bill and another that repealed Virginia’s law limiting handgun purchases to one gun a month.