{"id":2010945,"date":"2023-08-24T15:02:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T19:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-presidential-candidates-chart-divergent-paths-on-abortion-in-first-gop-debate\/"},"modified":"2023-08-24T15:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T19:05:11","slug":"republican-presidential-candidates-chart-divergent-paths-on-abortion-in-first-gop-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-presidential-candidates-chart-divergent-paths-on-abortion-in-first-gop-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP candidates diverge on abortion in first debate."},"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%2Frepublican-presidential-candidates-chart-divergent-paths-on-abortion-in-first-gop-debate%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=2010945&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--><div>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<h2>Republican Presidential Hopefuls Debate Abortion Regulations<\/h2>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/example.com\/image.jpg\" alt=\"GOP Debate\"><br \/>\n    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The eight\u2064 Republican presidential hopefuls who participated in Wednesday evening\u2019s debate offered differing visions on how to regulate abortion, a sign that the party \u200dis still struggling to navigate the tricky \u200celectoral waters \u2063of a post-<em>Roe<\/em> world.<\/p>\n<p>Former vice president Mike Pence came out strongly in favor of a national ban on abortion \u200caltogether, as did Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.). Others, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to \u2064say what he would do as president. Instead, DeSantis touted his record at home\u2014which includes a ban on abortion after six weeks\u2014and said as president he would &#8220;stand \u200con the side of life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I understand \u200dWisconsin will do it different than Texas,&#8221; \u200dhe said. &#8220;I understand Iowa and New Hampshire will do \u2064it different. But I will support the cause of life as governor \u2064and as president.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The question\u200b from Fox News moderator Martha McCallum about whether any of the candidates support a national \u200babortion ban came at an awkward time for Republicans. The party faced an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-re-electing-mcconnell-as-senate-leader-was-the-best-gift-the-gop-establishment-could-give-trump\/\" title=\"Why Re-Electing McConnell As Senate Leader Was The Best Gift The GOP Establishment Could Give Trump\">underwhelming midterm performance<\/a> last fall that many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bad-news-for-biden-women-lost-26k-jobs-in-september\/\" title=\"Bad News For Biden: Women Lost 26K Jobs In September\">political analysts attributed<\/a> in part to its inability to find \u200cthe right message on\u200d abortion. Polling shows most voters want abortion to remain legal early in a pregnancy, \u200dwith support dropping beyond 15 weeks gestation.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran political strategist \u2064Liam Donovan told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> that Republicans have been slow to adapt to a new \u200dnormal as more than two dozen states have effectively outlawed abortion. With <em>Roe<\/em> overturned, \u200dmany candidates would rather\u2062 talk about something else,\u2063 he added, \u2062even \u2062if their opposition to abortion rights remains a political\u200b liability.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think this \u200dis one of those situations where\u2063 the\u200c movement \u200cgot what it had been ostensibly seeking for a generation,&#8221; Donovan said. &#8220;There&#8217;s no consensus on how to proceed, and it&#8217;s easier to declare victory while moving onto\u2064 other issues that everybody can agree on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Former \u2062South Carolina governor\u200b and\u2064 United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley took the most pragmatic \u200bapproach, arguing that the\u2064 question of a federal ban is moot given that Republicans do not have 60 Senate votes to pass one. Republicans, Haley added, \u2064need to soften\u200b their\u200b rhetoric on abortion and stop &#8220;demonizing this \u2064issue,&#8221; and instead find areas \u200bof consensus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Can\u2019t we agree that contraception should be available?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Can\u2019t we all agree \u2063that we are not \u2062going to put a\u2063 woman in jail or give her the death penalty \u2062if she gets an abortion?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Even among \u200dRepublicans, it is unclear \u200bwhether abortion is\u2064 as\u200c salient an issue among primary voters as it was just a few years ago, though \u2063it was a motivator for\u2063 Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Just 34 percent of self-identified Republican primary voters said it was important to hear from a candidate about how he or she plans\u200d to &#8220;stop abortions,&#8221; compared with 86 percent who \u200dsaid the same about \u200dinflation and \u206481 percent for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donald-trump-endorses-hungarys-pm-viktor-orban-for-reelection\/\" title=\"Donald Trump Endorses Hungary's PM Viktor Orban for Reelection\">stopping illegal immigration<\/a>, according\u2062 to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/poll-analysis-first-republican-debate-2023-policy-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS poll<\/a> released this month.<\/p>\n<p>But articulating bold positions on social issues\u2062 such as abortion can still be an asset for one \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fails-to-give-biden-positive-rating-his-hesitancy-has-made-things-not-optimal\/\" title=\"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fails to Give Biden Positive Rating: His 'Hesitancy' Has Made Things 'Not Optimal'\">critical voting bloc<\/a> \u2063in the GOP primary: evangelical Christians.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I do think that it\u2019s important for candidates \u200bto be clear and have conviction,&#8221;\u200b Faith and\u2062 Freedom Coalition executive director\u200d Timothy Head told the \u2064 <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;There\u2019s a cluster of issues, life, \u2063religious liberty, and probably marriage and family \u2063issues are what I would consider to be kind of like latent issues that exist for most voters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Self-identified evangelical Christians \u2063made up as much as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-fix\/wp\/2016\/02\/01\/what-we-can-learn-from-the-iowa-republican-entrance-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">64\u200c percent<\/a> of caucus-goers\u2063 in 2016 and were the driving force\u200c behind the\u2063 surprise caucus victories of former candidates such as\u2063 Sen. Ted Cruz\u2062 (Texas), former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.), and former Arkansas \u2063governor Mike Huckabee.<\/p>\n<p>Although former president Donald Trump did not participate in \u200bthe debate, he holds a 2-1 lead with evangelical Christians in Iowa, according to a <em>Des Moines Register<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.desmoinesregister.com\/story\/news\/politics\/iowa-poll\/caucus\/2023\/08\/21\/iowa-poll-donald-trump-holds-commanding-lead-5-months-to-caucuses\/70624481007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">poll<\/a> released this month.\u2062 That same poll found Trump leading \u200bin the field with 42 percent of the \u2062vote.<\/p>\n<p>Much\u200b of Trump\u2019s strength with pro-life voters stems from his three Supreme Court appointees, who were instrumental in overturning <em>Roe<\/em>. Still, Trump has played coy about\u200c whether he would support any national abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>In private meetings, the former president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/24\/us\/politics\/abortion-ruling-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has said<\/a> he believes overturning <em>Roe<\/em> hurt Republican electoral prospects. Trump once supported a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-presidential-candidates-chart-divergent-paths-on-abortion-in-first-gop-debate\/\" title=\"GOP candidates diverge on abortion in first debate.\">national abortion ban past 20 weeks<\/a>, although he says now that he believes &#8220;pro-life people are in a strong position to make a deal that\u2019s going to be good and going to be \u200dsatisfactory for them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think the confounding factor is that Trump has a unique mix of credibility as the guy who \u2064did <em>Dobbs<\/em> \u200c and a general secular and libertine identity that does\u200b not read as preachy,&#8221; \u2063Donovan said. &#8220;You&#8217;re not going to \u200cget to either side of him and it&#8217;s an open question as to whether it would do you \u200dany good anyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy debated in the GOP primary. The eight Republican candidates showcased contrasting views on abortion regulation, highlighting the party&#8217;s ongoing challenge in finding a unified stance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":2010946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2010945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010945","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\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2010945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2010946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2010945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2010945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}