This is how the Democrats will win the midterms.

For years Republicans have sold their souls in exchange for U.S. Supreme Court nominations.  They got what they wanted.  The party of family values supported Donald Trump – a man with countless sexual assault allegations against him who infamously said just to grab women by the pu**y – in exchange for three uber-conservative justices.  

Now it is time for Democrats to execute a similar Supreme Court strategy this November.

As the only party who somewhat cares for democratic institutions and norms like free and fair elections, stare decisis, and a separation between church and state, America needs anyone but Republicans to win the midterm elections this November.

Otherwise, democracy in America will continue to decay and possibly die.  There is only so much pressure democratic institutions and norms can take.  Especially now that extremist Republicans have put their henchmen into election oversight positions of power in key swing states.

The checks and balances in the system are dying.  The rules of the game are becoming obsolete. 

So how should Democrats take a Supreme Court centric approach to save them?

Put the body and the bedroom on the ballot this November.  

A theocratic takeover is underway in America.  The Supreme Court is leading the charge by adjudicating religious-fueled values over the rule of law, and its own morality over stare decisis.  

In order to sustain democracy, the Democrats should beat Republicans at their own Supreme Court game.  There are a number of reasons why such a strategy would be successful.   

Most people – including moderate conservatives – disagree with extremist abortion positions

As we saw in the recent Kansas ballot referendum, many conservative voters are not as extreme as the conservative justices on the Supreme Court.  While the court largely punted abortion discretion to state legislatures, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade made no exceptions for an undue burden on the woman or cases of rape, incest, or bodily harm.

Kansas tried to take a similar approach.  Remember, it’s a historically red state.  Donald Trump won there by 15 points in 2020.  But the latest voting on this abortion ballot referendum has swung by 18 points in the opposite direction.  

With 95% of the vote counted, 59 percent were opposed and 41 percent were in favor of giving the Kansas state legislature the ability to implement a near total or total ban on abortions in Kansas.  

Those numbers show how many previous Trump voters have a more nuanced view when it comes to abortion.  It illustrates they are not the same extremist ideologues currently in Republican politics and on the Supreme Court.  

A winning strategy in this Kansas referendum was appealing not only to these more nuanced views on abortion, but also to the general aversion to any unnecessary government intrusion in voters’ lives.  Carrying this broader point and theme into the midterms this November will energize the Democratic base. 

Bedroom and body issues will energize Democratic voters

Now that the Supreme Court has dismantled the right to privacy underpinning Roe, there is nothing stopping it from dismantling other protections based on the same legal reasoning.  That would include contraceptives, gay sex, gay marriage, and even interracial marriage.

This Supreme Court wants to tell you how to use your body and how to act in your bedroom.  Republicans put that conservative majority in place.

This messaging is so antithetical to conservative voters it might just work.  It strikes at the heart of Reaganism fears: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” 

The same party that spent the past two years screaming about government mask mandates now wants to tell you how to use your body and how to act in your bedroom. 

That general messaging – which goes beyond abortion – was enough to energize Kansas voters in a closed primary election.  As Popular Information noted, most voters do not show up in closed primaries, especially those not registered as either a Democrat or Republican.  Although in this case, independents were able to vote on the constitutional amendment on abortion.  

Kansas Republicans tried to capitalize on this closed primary voting tendency, hoping their vast registered Republican majority (851,882) would outmatch registered Democrats (495,574).  

They failed.

The turnout was huge.  Over 900,000 Kansans voted for or against the Constititonal amendment on abortion.  These numbers are more typical for a general election.

Most interestingly, as reported by Popular Information:

“Kansas also saw a surge of new female registrants as election day approached, particularly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.”

So it’s safe to say this same electoral strategy in the midterms could energize the base and register new voters.

It’s my body, stupid.  

The typical election mantra is that it’s the economy, stupid.  What affects voters the most?  More often than not it’s their bottom line.

With gas prices decreasing and the stock market showing signs of an end to its bear run (which usually last 9 months on average), the next big issue is bodily autonomy.  

The Supreme Court put this issue on the ballot.  And given Republican politicians put the conservative jurists on the bench, the party should be held accountable.

Most people simply do not agree on near total bans to abortions.  The more moderate view advocates for some limitations, but with notable exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or bodily harm to the woman.

All women should be able to say, “It’s my body, stupid.”  

There is nothing more fundamental – for any person – than bodily autonomy.  Government intrusion into this autonomy completely counters the conservative ideology of small government. 

If Democrats run political ads from now until November with these points loud and clear, they may be able to defend their majority in the House.  Ads do not even need to explicitly mention abortion.  Many didn’t in Kansas.

This ad needs to be replicated in all 50 states this November.  It will put the body and the bedroom on the ballot.