OPINION:
If you’re a leader of today’s Democratic Party, the playbook for winning elections is pretty thin. Bereft of ideas that empower communities to realize their potential, the socialist leadership of the party has few tactics to drive voters to the polls. Race-baiting is one, for sure. Hysteria over so-called threats to democracy and climate change are others. Welfare and the expansion of “free stuff” is an old standby.
But it seems the center of gravity has shifted to two primary issues the left believes will put Florida in play in November. These two issues should tell independent voters everything they need to know about which party is truly focused on the advancement of American society and which one is championing a race to the bottom.
Over the last week, pro-abortion advocates won a Florida Supreme Court ruling that will place referendums on the ballot in November on whether the state’s six-week abortion ban is legal or whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution.
Democrats have been on a winning streak since the Dobbs ruling at the Supreme Court sent the issue of abortion restrictions back to the states. The issue will also play prominently in the swing state of Arizona.
Pro-abortion activists have also secured a referendum on a constitutional amendment there as well. Nothing motivates Democratic voters like former President Donald Trump and abortion.
In Democratic politics, you stick to what works, even if it is a strong focus on a perversion of freedom that destroys innocent lives.
In that vein, there was also a second court ruling that will ensure another favorite issue of the far left will prominently drive out turnout in November in Florida.
The legalization of marijuana, like abortion, has been featured more prominently in Democratic Party politics over the last decade. Like abortion, the policy is destructive to human life. Still, it is seen as a motivator for young voters and minorities who Democrats believe are easily motivated by access to more drugs. The whole rationale behind the strategy is racist on its face, but since it’s the left driving the issue, access to more drugs is considered a social justice issue.
Here again, Democrats will attempt to drive out voters by pouring millions into a policy that is detrimental to society. Scientific and medical evidence is increasingly clear that drug products containing THC industrialized for mass commercial consumption are responsible for IQ loss, depression, suicide, psychosis and schizophrenia.
The editorial board at Bloomberg this week had the courage to make plain that after decades of fighting to make our roads safer from drunken driving, Democrats’ push for legal high-potency cannabis is making our roads more dangerous.
“In the U.S., the proportion of motor-vehicle fatalities involving cannabis use soared to 21.5% in 2018, up from 9% in 2000,” the editorial board stated. That means thousands have died because of the pot push and resulting reductions in perceptions of harm from the drugs.
“A recent study found that about half of marijuana users thought they were OK to drive 90 minutes after inhaling or ingesting the drug, yet their driving performance in a simulated vehicle was as bad as it had been after 30 minutes,” the board continued.
According to Axios, in 2022, 8.4% of people age 65 or older said they used marijuana in the past year. That figure was just 0.4% in 2007.
In a state like Florida, if the proportions are similar, that’s a real number of older adults to try to lock into your column in the fall.
It is debatable whether Florida, with the successes of Gov. Ron DeSantis, is really in play. Still, it is a certainty that the left will throw tons of money at the Sunshine State to force Mr. Trump, the Republican National Committee, and the state GOP to spend big in a set of expensive media markets. Even if the abortion and marijuana referendums have only a limited effect on the presidential race, the impact on House, Senate, municipal and other races, particularly in marginal seats, could be significant.
If you’re a strategist, this all makes for a smart approach. But leveraging two patently destructive policies for the sake of winning an election again shows the moral rot of the Democratic Party and its gutter politics of societal destruction.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax TV and a columnist with The Washington Times.
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