CNN’s Chris Wallace pointed to midterm exit polling and concluded Democratic messaging on abortion failed to resonate with voters to the degree the party would have liked.
Wallace was surprised national exit polling showed a plurality of voters are more concerned about inflation after Democrats made abortion access a marquee issue.
Network political director David Chalian reported a CNN exit poll found inflation was the top issue for 32% of voters. Abortion came in second at 27%. Other issues cited as a chief concern were crime, gun policy, and immigration.
Additionally, 75% of voters rated the economy as either not so good or poor. Seventy-eight percent of voters reported experiencing either moderate or severe financial hardship, and a mere 18% of voters said they are better off financially than they were two years ago.
Jake Tapper called the polling data “brutal” for Democrats.
“I mean, again, 75% of the country says the condition of the nation’s economy is not so good or poor,” Tapper said. “Seventy-eight percent of those in the exit polls say that inflation has caused their family severe or moderate hardship. Again, brutal.”
Wallace invoked the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and a constitutional right to abortion in June:
I am surprised that abortion turns out to be not the most important issue for so many people. But Democrats, last time I checked, had spent 10 times more on advertising on abortion than they had on inflation, and I think they will look back – I mean clearly there was a Dobbs mirage.
They thought the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was going to be a silver bullet and it was going to carry them to victory, but it turns out inflation was the key issue.
Watch above, via CNN.
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