Sen. Bernie Sanders encourages Democrats to prioritize issues other than abortion ahead of midterm elections

Ahead of the midterm elections in November, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) encouraged his fellow Democrats in Congress to prioritize issues other than abortion as their primary concern.

Sanders wrote that he disagrees with the advice that Democratic candidates are getting from people he refers to as “establishment consultants and directors of well-funded Super Pacs” that they should focus only on abortion as campaigns make their closing arguments. The op-ed was published by The Guardian on Monday. Sanders wrote that he disagrees with the advice that Democratic candidates are getting.

“But, as we enter the final weeks of the 2022 midterm elections, I am alarmed to hear the advice that many Democratic candidates are getting from establishment consultants and directors of well-funded Super Pacs that the closing argument of Democrats should focus only on abortion. Cut the 30-second abortion ads and coast to victory,” Sanders wrote in his op-ed.

“I disagree,” Sanders added. “In my view, while the abortion issue must remain on the front burner, it would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered.”

Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established a constitutionally protected right to abortion, was overturned by the Supreme Court in the month of June. Following the judgment of the court, some states headed by the GOP enacted legislation that placed severe restrictions or outright bans on the procedure.

Sanders presented a statistic that indicated sixty percent of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck, despite the fact that the cost of prescription drugs is continuing to rise within a health care system that is described as “dysfunctional.”

“None of what I am suggesting here is ‘radical’. It is, in fact, extremely popular. It is what the American people want. If we close this critical midterm campaign with a clear, unified vision to meet the needs of working families, to take on corporate greed, and protect a woman’s right to choose, we will begin to rebuild the trust between Democrats in Washington and the working families of this country,” Sanders wrote. “And we’ll win the election.”