Mitch McConnell insists abortion is NOT the main issue in the midterms

Senate Leader Mitch McConnell insisted on Wednesday that abortion will not be the main issue in the midterm elections.

“Well, I think that issue plays out in different ways in different states,” he replied at a press conference by Senate leaders when asked if he was “overly disdainful” about the impact abortion will have.

“The three big national issues that we’re going to tackle here that people are most concerned about nationally are the ones I mentioned: inflation, crime and open borders. We are clearly going to focus on that,” McConnell continued.

The reporter also pointed out that Republican candidates did not appear to have a “clear strategy” for tackling the hot-button issue — with some saying termination decisions should be made at the state level, and others saying they would vote for Sen Lindsey Graham’s federal 15-week suspension.

“With regard to the issue you raised, I think all of our candidates will have a different answer depending on where they are,” McConnell acknowledged.

Abortion rights took center stage in the midterm races after the Supreme Court announced its Dobbs decision in June, quashing the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case.

Abortion rights took center stage in the midterm races after the Supreme Court announced its Dobbs decision in June, quashing the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case.

With President Joe Biden’s low approval numbers — and historic trends that go against Democrats as their party controls the White House — 2022 could have been a slam dunk, but races are wafer-thin instead.

On Wednesday, McConnell was also asked if he stood by his previous comments about “candidate quality.”

In August, the top Senate Republican said he believed Republicans were more likely to gain control of the House than the Senate.

“Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, the quality of candidates has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said.

“Right now we have a 50-50 Senate and a 50-50 country, but I think when all is said and done this fall, we’ll probably have an extremely tight-knit Senate, either our side up a little or their side up a bit.” bit,” he predicted at the time. ‘

He made a similar forecast Wednesday.

“In every election, every year, this year, for the past few years, it’s great to have great candidates,” he said. “We are in some close races, I think we have a 50-50 chance of getting the Senate back.

“It’s going to be very, very close in my view anyway,” the Kentucky Republican added.

This is evident from the latest Politico/Morning Consult survey.

Republicans narrowed a 5-point deficit to just 2 points last week when voters were asked which party they wanted to see control Congress.

Last week, Democrats led 46 percent to 41 percent, now the numbers are at 45 percent for the Democrats, 43 percent for the GOP.

Starting Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight said: that Democrats are still ahead in the race for Senate control, in part because Republicans chose “weak candidates,” but Republicans have potential pick-up opportunities.