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Salon
Salon
Politics
Amanda Marcotte

Biden's bewildering reaction to Roe

U.S. President Joe Biden bows his head in prayer Win McNamee/Getty Images

When it comes to political strategies, few are more potent than the deployment of the wedge issue: A hot button topic that will unify voters on your side while dividing your opposition. For Democrats going into the midterms, the overturn of Roe v. Wade should have been a classic wedge issue. The abortion issue doesn't just unify the Democratic base, it creates a wedge between the fundamentalists and the rest of the GOP base that isn't nearly so keen on the politics of prudery.

A recent Monmouth University poll shows that 84% of Democrats strongly disapprove of the Roe overturn, while only 3% strongly approve of it. Meanwhile, a smaller majority, 58%, of Republicans strongly approve of the Roe overturn, while a healthy 24% of Republicans strongly disapprove of it. Independents are even more divided, with only 30% strongly approving of the Roe overturn and 50% strongly disapproving. 

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