{"id":1626801,"date":"2022-08-30T10:05:40","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T14:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626801"},"modified":"2022-08-30T10:05:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T14:05:57","slug":"hon-thaddeus-g-mccotter-gop-remember-the-maxim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hon-thaddeus-g-mccotter-gop-remember-the-maxim\/","title":{"rendered":"Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter: GOP, Remember the Maxim!"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhon-thaddeus-g-mccotter-gop-remember-the-maxim%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626801&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Left would have you believe that one of the Republican\/conservative movement\u2019s greatest triumphs is the worst thing that ever happened to <em>us<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs decision that rightfully returned the issue of abortion back to the states has been cited as the reason the Democrats\u2019 dismal mid-term election prospects have suddenly brightened.\u00a0 Thus, despite all the polling to the contrary, the Left\u2019s message is that abortion, not the recession, is the number one issue for voters who, again despite the polling, overwhelming support abortion on demand through the entire nine months of a pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Left knows better; but gullible Pro-life Republican candidates who don\u2019t know better will lose the respect and support of their voters for appearing squeamish or worse on the issue; lose winnable seats; and help put the GOP\u2019s anticipated recapture of the U.S. House and Senate in jeopardy \u2013 which is exactly the point of the Left\u2019s \u201cabortion is everything\u201d messaging tactic.<\/p>\n<p>No strangers to purges, the Left has designed what it hopes will be a win-win narrative, one that exacerbates the internal divisions within their opponents\u2019 party; and advances their own radical agenda on abortion.\u00a0 The Democrats, in conjunction with their media cohorts, argue that abortion without restrictions is the overwhelming position of Americans; and that any GOP candidate who doesn\u2019t agree, will be ignominiously defeated.\u00a0 As Democrats spread this disinformation, they are disingenuously projecting their abortion extremism onto Republican candidates.\u00a0 The tactic accuses the Pro-life Republican candidate of being extreme, and\/or overtly or covertly supporting the party\u2019s \u201cdangerous\u201d position on abortion.\u00a0 For the Democrats, this falsely brands the GOP candidate; induces them to defend themselves and\/or a position they do not hold; prevents their demanding the Democratic candidate reveal their radical pro-abortion position; furthers the lie that Americans support abortion on demand; and, most importantly, furthers the election of a pro-abortion Democrat who will implement the Left\u2019s radical abortion agenda.<\/p>\n<p>To see how the Democrats\u2019 pro-abortion messaging succeeds, we need to look no further than the special election in <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/24\/republican-wins-bellwether-ny-19-special-election-for-congress\/\">New York\u2019s 19<sup>th<\/sup> United States House district<\/a>.\u00a0 In a seat Mr. Biden carried by a point or so, the pro-abortion Democrat, Mr. Pat Ryan, defeated the pro-something Republican, Mr. Marc Molinaro, by a 51.1% to 48.8% margin.\u00a0 The media has claimed this was a result of the abortion issue, often eliding over the fact the area has seen an influx of liberal New York City residents over the past two years.\u00a0 (Perhaps they were fleeing the consequences of the Left\u2019s bail reform and defund the police policies?)\u00a0 In sum, the pundit class cites everything under the sun to support their \u201cabortion is everything\u201d narrative except the political maxim staring them in the face: \u201close your base, lose your race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Molinaro\u2019s position on abortion was a hodge-podge of defensive positions, including opposing a federal ban on abortion and supporting the <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision, which he said was moot as the state of New York had already acted to legalize abortion.\u00a0 This hardly Churchillian defense of the Pro-life position didn\u2019t help a campaign already struggling with its messaging.\u00a0 A friend of mine well acquainted with the NY-19 special election expressed his frustration with the GOP candidate\u2019s campaign: \u201cMessaging on GOP side was awful. \u00a0None of the messaging was anything about Biden, lockdowns, etc.\u201d\u00a0 While this might be a slight exaggeration on the GOP candidate\u2019s messaging\u2019s content, it certainly was on the mark about its resonance \u2013 particularly among GOP\/populist\/conservative voters.<\/p>\n<p>In NY-19, enough Pro-Life and grassroots GOP voters simply weren\u2019t inspired to vote for Mr. Molinaro.\u00a0 That this was a special election in which Mr. Molinaro would run again in the fall and, interestingly, the victorious Democrat would be running for a full term in an adjoining district, it provided one more reason for GOP grassroot voters to stay home to teach Mr. Molinaro a lesson for the November election.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, the abortion issue did play a role in the campaign.\u00a0 The media\u2019s mistake is in presuming all Pro-life GOP voters support a candidate regardless of their position on the issue; and assumes all Pro-choice GOP voters will vote for an abortion supporting Democrat.\u00a0 The evidence doesn\u2019t support this view.\u00a0 Pro-Choice GOP voters are well aware of the party\u2019s position on the issue and have remained in the party and voted for its candidates, be they Pro-life or Pro-Choice.\u00a0 Pro-Life GOP voters are far more likely to punish a candidate who doesn\u2019t support the party\u2019s Pro-life platform.\u00a0 Thus, it is true that the abortion issue contributed to the loss of the Republican candidate in NY-19, because the Democrat\u2019s Pro-abortion stance increased his party\u2019s turnout; and the Republican candidate\u2019s pro-something stance depressed Pro-life GOP\/populist\/conservative turnout for a candidate perceived as unreliable on core issues including, but not limited to, abortion.<\/p>\n<p>A GOP candidate, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, must affirm their position; demand their Democratic opponent explain their <em>full<\/em> position on the issue.\u00a0 After all, how can Democrats claim to defend what they can\u2019t even define \u2013 women.\u00a0 If the GOP candidate\u2019s position is fully Pro-Choice, they will need to ensure GOP voters, especially the Pro-life grassroots, view this as a principled exception to the party\u2019s platform and not a portend of future sell outs to come.\u00a0 All the while, the GOP candidate must stress the more salient issue of the economic misery caused by Mr. Biden and his lackey Democratic Congress\u2019 inflationary policies.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats know they have liabilities on the abortion issue.\u00a0 It is why they refuse to give details of their complete, radically extreme position on abortion; it is why they preemptively attack their GOP opponents; why they link the issue to contraception in ballot proposals; it is why they deliberately prevaricate about ectopic pregnancies; and why they spend so much time propagating their narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Still, too many panicking Republican candidates swallow the Democrats\u2019 narrative \u2013 often with the help of the GOP\u2019s swamp creatures \u2013 and never learn the proper lessons, even after defeat upon defeat.\u00a0 Pain may be a great teacher, but masochists still learn all the wrong lessons. \u00a0Remember the maxim!\u00a0 \u201cLose your base, lose your race.\u201d \u00a0It is imperative Mr. Molinaro and many of his fellow GOP Congressional candidates do so, or he will again lose this seat; and Republicans again lose the House and Senate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"t-contain t-pos-cntr t-pad-top t-marg-top t-pad-15px-lt   t-pad-bot author-block\">\n<div class=\"author\">\n<div class=\"thumbnail\">\n<div class=\"image border\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/humanevents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/TomShillueSketch-Raccoon-Apocalypse-McCotter-Thaddeus-G-150x150.jpg\" class=\"avatar avatar-96 photo\" height=\"96\" width=\"96\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"summary\">\n                      <span>Written By:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"t-pad-33pc-bot t-txt-blk\"><a href=\"https:\/\/humanevents.com\/author\/thaddeusmccotter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/humanevents.com\/author\/thaddeusmccotter\/\" title=\"Posts by Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter\" rel=\"author\">Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter<\/a><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>A Human Events contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) represented Michigan\u2019s 11th Congressional district from 2003-2012, and served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee. Not a lobbyist, he is a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a Monday co-host of the &#8220;John Batchelor Radio Show,&#8221; among sundry media appearances.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Left would have you believe that one of the Republican\/conservative movement\u2019s greatest triumphs is the worst thing that ever happened to us. The Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs decision that rightfully<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1626801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1626801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1626801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1626801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}