Biden's Approval Numbers Are Down, But...

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll (from 4/28-5/3) found that 63% of adults believe that President Biden lacks the "mental sharpness" to serve as president.  It is hard to believe that 32% believe he is capable.  And 62% believe Biden is not in "good enough physical health" to serve, with 33% believing he is.

As for former President Trump, his numbers are considerably better.  54% said he was sufficiently sharp, with 64% saying he was sufficiently healthy physically, to serve as president.  When asked who they trusted more to deal with the economy, 54% said Trump, with only 36% saying Biden.  (The poll has  a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.)

So Biden is considerably under water on three significant issues affecting his electability.  But...  But what if one issue dominates over all others?  What if abortion drives the vote in 2024?  In a 2022 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), it was found that 61% of Americans opposed overturning Roe, as the Supreme Court did in Dobbs.  

Not surprisingly, a significant super majority of Democrats (82%) opposed overturning Roe.  But the Independents also opposed overturning Roe (by 63%).  And, even 40% of Republicans opposed overturning Roe.  Here is a statistic that ought to give Republicans pause.  In 2021, the PRRI found that there was not one single state where a majority favored overturning Roe.  

Recently, the Nebraska legislature failed to pass a measure that would have banned abortions after about six weeks.  The current law banning abortion after 20 weeks, remains in effect.

In South Carolina, the legislature tabled a measure that would have banned nearly all abortions.  The purpose of this post is not to discuss the pros and cons of either Roe or Dobbs.  Just last summer I did three posts discussing Dobbs.  (See the two posts on 6/26/22 and one on 6/29/22.)

The question for Republicans is, how should they address the issue of abortion in 2024, as it is clearly going to be a major issue for many people.  During the oral argument of the Dobbs case, Chief Justice Roberts attempted to get both sides to focus on the actual 15 week limitation in the Mississippi statute that was before the Court.  The minority voted to keep Roe intact.  The majority overturned Roe.  Roberts found himself alone, suggesting that the 15 week ban might not be an "undue burden" under the Casey standard.  

I ended up siding with Roberts, and opposing the Dobbs decision.  If the Republicans do not come up with an answer, we may see landslide victories, up and down the ballot, for Democrats. 

Sanctuary Cities Didn't Really Mean It

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, has been busing people who cross the southern border illegally (now called "migrants" by the left) to various northern cities, including Chicago and New York.  

Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, communicated this to Governor Abbott:  "I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking that you stop this inhumane and dangerous action."  And this:  "We are completely tapped out.  We have no more space, no more resources, and frankly, we are already in a surge.  We've been seeing over the last week, two to three weeks, 200 plus people coming to Chicago every day."  

New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, had this to say:  "Not only is this behavior morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of asylum seekers, but it is also impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by black mayors."

Here is what Governor Abbott replied to Mayor Lightfoot:  "If you truly want to 'work together to find a real solution' to this border crisis gripping our nation, you must call on the Biden Administration to do its job by securing our border, repelling the illegal immigrants flooding into our communities, classifying the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and intercepting the deadly fentanyl that is endangering our country."

My take.  During the first two years of the Biden Administration, approximately 5 million people have entered the country illegally.  Why?  Because Biden immediately reversed the policies that President Trump had put in place.  But now it's a concern for these "sanctuary cities?"  Sounds like a typical left-wing reaction - supporting a policy until it actually affects them.  In this case, open borders is fine, as long as those pesky migrants stay in the southern states.  Sounds like another case of NIMBY - not in my backyard.

Mayor Lightfoot complains of 200 migrants a day.  That comes to 73,000 a year.  That's nothing compared to what our border communities have had to deal with.  I am not surprised that Mayor Adams played the race card.  The fact is, the Mayors of New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, are all black.  So what?  Should Governor Abbott only be permitted to bus the migrants to cities with Republican mayors?  The Governor of Texas is sending the migrants to cities run by Democrats, and that's the key.  He is trying to get these Democrats, as he said, to "call on the Biden Administration to its job."  

The buck stops with Biden, as the federal government is the entity responsible for securing our borders.  But Biden has not accepted any responsibility for anything.  As far as he is concerned, the buck stopped with Trump.  Or anyone else he and his cabinet members can blame.  Kudos to Governor Abbott for forcing the rest of the country into acknowledging that the border crisis is a national problem.  It is not, nor should it be, thought of as a problem for the border states only.