Last week, Ohioans overwhelmingly said women should have control of their bodies, and it’s fine for adults to smoke a little weed.
But Republicans, instead of saying, “We respect the will of the voters,” immediately declared war. On marijuana, they vowed to change parts of the new state law they don’t like. They vowed to continue fighting against the right to choose, but there’s much less they can do since it passed as a constitutional amendment.
Republicans have spent 2023 digging their own political grave. They first told voters an August election was an undemocratic waste of time not worth the $20 million price tag. But they held that election anyway and asked voters to give up their voices by making it harder to amend the constitution. They wanted to put up as many roadblocks to the abortion vote as possible.
After the August Issue 1 failed, they struggled to develop a message that would sway voters to side with them on abortion and marijuana. They couldn’t, and nearly 2.2 million Ohioans voted yes on both questions. The party couldn’t reach moderates, and their voters turned indifferent.
Based on exit polls, more than 6 in 10 independents (and at least 13% of Republicans) voted for Issue 1. While a record number of self-described liberals went to the polls, conservative turnout was down six percentage points compared to the 2022 midterms, according to ABC News.
If there’s a shortage of eggs at the store this week, it’s all over lawmakers’ faces. They did what interest groups and their base wanted, but not the voting public at large. Republicans said issues like abortion and marijuana were out of touch with Ohio values.
Really? Who’s really out of touch?
The votes bode poorly for a party that only has a veto-proof majority because they’ve illegally gerrymandered themselves into power, though that could be coming to an end. An Ohio group plans to place an amendment on the ballot, maybe as soon as 2024, to remove map-making from politicians and place it into the hands of an independent commission.
You would think the state GOP would learn, but it’s clear from remarks immediately after the vote, they have not. They’ll instead take the advice of former Sen. Rick Santorum, who said this about the Ohio vote:
“You put very sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote. Thank goodness that most of the states in this country don’t allow you to put everything on the ballot, because pure democracies are not the way to run a country.”
Let’s stop those crazy young ones from voting and throw democracy in the trash. Some advice, huh?
If the Ohio GOP wants to be a party of the people, it must heed the warning signs and change its behavior. Liberals and moderates won a staggering 80% of school board races nationwide because voters rejected the views of conservative candidates. The dismayed Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, asked, “Are Republicans tired of all the losing?”
In Ohio, clearly not. The party might make headway if it would move toward the middle and not turn off large swaths of voters.
Don’t bet on that happening.
Ray Marcano’s column appears on these pages each Sunday. He can be reached at raymarcanoddn@gmail.com.
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