The conservative, some might say regressive, news site American Greatness recently headlined the following: “Biden to Make Abortion a Top Priority in Second Term.”
I don’t find that repulsive. In fact, I think the following:
Scream it from the rooftops, for after all, sex sells.
Joe Biden is said to favor hinging his reelection to a theme of saving democracy at home and abroad. New York Times opinion writer Frank Bruni quoted Biden saying last Friday, “Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.”
Yeah, that’s important. But not a turn on to younger voters.
Let’s be honest and practical. If you want to motivate younger voters and women of all ages you must appeal to their emotions, to their sense of independence, to their investment in personal health.
In short, to their right to guilt-free sex and the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy. Men, as well, are affected by a woman’s right to choose for herself matters of healthcare.
So, say yes to abortion. Abortion. Abortion.
Yes, some voters are passionate about saving the environment. And voting rights. And … oh, anything else that turns someone on. But nothing can compare to their passion, their interest in sex.
As Madison Avenue has long known, sex sells. Biden and all Democrats need to pound away at this issue, particularly to younger, sexually active voters, not just on the right to clinical abortions but also on the right to secure pill-based abortion medications, a right that will be adjudicated by the Supreme Court before next November’s election.
These are lifestyle issues. Yes, democracy, immigration and Trump’s embrace of despots are significant issues but SEX issues directly impact voters. Run ads saying “Biden accepts a woman’s right to choose. Trump does not!”
In a variation of German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s 1946 poem about intellectual and clergy silence surrounding Nazi ascension and persecutions (“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist …” https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_they_came_...&oldid=1194286508), may I suggest that under the conservative Christian religious zealotry of House Speaker Michael Johnson a cascading flow of repressive, regressive legislation will pour forth from a right wing Congress, president and Supreme Court.
In my version, First they came for reproductive rights, then they will come for contraceptive rights, then for LGBTQ+ rights, then for same sex marriage rights, then for same sex relations, then for interracial unions, then for equal opportunities for women and minorities in the workplace, then for removing barriers to the separation of church and state, then for social welfare programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and then for free public education.
Let’s hope I am being hyperbolic.
Six weeks ago I wrote about the choices voters of all ages and interests have in the coming election. Like advertising, it is worth repeating the themes over and over again. Ads and speeches should, individually and collectively, include the following themes:
*Are you concerned about the future of reproductive rights?
*Should privacy and lifestyle rights be protected?
*Is the separation of church and state important?
*Do you favor tighter gun control laws?
*Should we do more to protect the earth’s environment?
*Is saving democracy, the rule of law and free elections, at home and abroad, worthwhile?
*Should Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) be protected?
Joe Biden has championed these causes. His likely opponent has not.
Over and over it must be stressed that a vote for Joe Biden, no matter how unenthusiastic it might be registered, would help sustain a positive future.
The MAGA alternative would produce a mega disaster.
