CNN’s first question in Westerville, Ohio, at the sixth Democratic debate, addressed the real elephant in the room: Whether the Democratic Party’s impeachment inquiry distracts from their ability to work on issues that matter most to Americans.
Polling corroborates that this is the question weighing on Americans’ minds.
A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll showed that less than 50 percent of Americans support impeachment, and 53 percent of women — only slightly higher than men — want to look into impeachment. Other polls show that the majority do not want the president removed, even if he is impeached.
A more insightful survey on “what women want” taken during the 2018 midterm elections clearly showed that women want leaders to be focused not on politics but on health care first, with national security, jobs, education and other issues trailing not far behind. It’s difficult to believe that concern over those issues has suddenly vanished over the last 11 months.
The majority of Democrats on stage denied that the obsession with impeachment could get in the way of doing the people’s business.
The only candidate who agreed that impeachment was, in fact, distracting from the issues was Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who suggested that healthcare should be center stage.
California Sen. Kamala Harris added her voice to that notion. However, she took a sharp left turn in what seemed like a ready-made Planned Parenthood ad, suggesting the biggest threat facing America is actually access to abortion. Harris said it was “outrageous” that in the course of the six debates that the Democratic candidates have held, abortion was not a prominent topic.
In her fear-mongering, Harris predicted, “It is not an exaggeration to say women will die, poor women, women of color will die because these Republican legislatures in these various states who are out of touch with America are telling women what to do with out bodies.”
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker agreed, pointing out that the debate took place in a state in which two Planned Parenthood centers had recently closed. He also added, “Women are people,” too. (Women everywhere thank you for that proclamation, senator.)
For her part, Harris is wildly off-base in suggesting that Republicans are “out of touch with America.” According to Gallup, support for abortion “with no restrictions” is at an all-time low. Only 25 percent of Americans support it, representing one of the lowest figures since Roe v. Wade more than four decades ago.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren transcended the debate stage with her mention of her recent grassroots success, boasting an impressive 140 town halls, 27 states visited (plus Puerto Rico, she said), and she has taken 70,000 selfies which she suggested is “the new measure of democracy” (in some way, she’s probably right.)
No matter what else was said on the debate stage, Warren’s claim might just be the most relevant. As the debate stage lights dimmed and podiums were hauled away, there was no denying that Warren’s homegrown, grassroots, stick-to-it’ness, is pay dividends against both Sanders and Joe Biden.
When the Democratic candidates convene for their next debate on Nov. 20, the field will likely be winnowed and the issue du jour may have changed, but the Democratic primary will likely remain a deadlocked three-way race.
The candidates only need to survive another 90 days in order to make it to Super Tuesday, when one of them could secure the votes he or she needs to become the nominee. At that point, he or she must then prepare to defend the far-left positions of these Democratic debates. Those include impeachment at all cost, “Medicare-for-all,” and abortion on-demand. That will be a tall order for any of these candidates.
Jen Kerns (@JenKernsUSA) is founder of Women for A Great America, a 501(c)4 organization dedicated to educating and engaging women on civic issues. She served as spokeswoman for the California Republican Party; spokeswoman for California’s Proposition 8 which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court; and as a Fox News writer for the 2016 U.S. presidential debates.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.