Kerry Eleveld on the Michelangelo Signorile Show: Repeal of Roe would be "like a bomb dropping"

[Brexiter]

This week, Daily Kos senior political writer Kerry Eleveld joined Michelangelo Signorile on his show to talk about the fate of Roe v. Wade, the future of Georgia, and what Democrats can do after they pass President Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

A repeal of Roe v. Wade is becoming more and more likely but if it were to happen, not everyone would feel its effects in the same way. “There’s been this abortion fight looming for decades and what I think they’re failing to see is the way this is going to be like a bomb dropping when, in somewhere around half the states, women lose access to abortion,” Eleveld said. She also highlighted what is at stake given that a majority of Americans support abortion rights and unpacked the conservative argument surrounding states’ rights to decide the issue:

Somewhere around roughly two-thirds of the country thinks that abortion should be legal in all or most cases … but there isn’t more than 20% support in America for not having abortion access at all. What Republicans want to go back to and what they want to sell is, ‘Well, we’re just going to let this be decided in the states.’ Well, if you don’t have abortion access in your state, and you don’t have the money to go out of state, then you don’t have abortion access.

The pair also touched on the future of Georgia, especially now that Stacey Abrams has announced her intent to run for governor again. Eleveld believes that Republicans in Georgia are still struggling after losing both U.S. Senate seats early this year.

In the House, Republican leadership continues to be “morally bankrupt,” as Eleveld underscored:

What is happening in Republican caucus right now, and especially among House Republicans, is what happens when you have a total dearth of moral leadership, right? And anyone who’s had kids know that if you let kids sort of run wild and control you … and they will do anything they want and you will be at their behest. You will be begging them to sort of, you know, do whatever it is that you want them to do.

That’s basically where McCarthy is now. He isn’t putting any firm guardrails in place, he’s not putting any boundaries in place. He’s not saying what is unacceptable for his caucus, because he’s so desperate for every single vote he can get in order to ultimately become speaker if Republicans take the majority next year. And at the same time, while he’s doing this, while he’s letting them run wild and just [exhibit] total moral bankruptcy, he’s already probably on the chopping block.

Lastly, Eleveld shared her thoughts on how Democrats can continue pushing for more on the issues that really matter. If Democrats can pass the Build Back Better Act, they need to focus on some version of a Voting Rights Act immediately after, she argued, and turn the media’s attention to other pressing things:

If they can pass the Build Back Better bill and be done with that … I want them to get it done, and then they need to let reporters get back to seeing what a total dumpster fire Republicans are. They need to spend time redirecting the energy of reporters to the dumpster fire that is the Republican Party right now.

You can listen to the full audio here:

YouTube Video