President Biden is promising Democrats he'll introduce legislation to codify abortion rights as his first proposal of the new year if they elect enough Democrats to keep control of the House and Senate.
"If you care about the right to choose, then you gotta vote. That's why these midterm elections are so critical ... if we do that, here's the promise I make to you and the American people: The first bill I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe," Biden said during a speech in Washington, D.C., Tuesday while standing under a giant "Restore Roe" banner.
It's a major gambit for the president, whose party has struggled to overcome 40-year-high inflation at a time when both chambers of Congress — and a significant portion of Biden's agenda — remain on the line this November.
Polls increasingly suggest voters see economic concerns as more pressing this election cycle than abortion rights, a warning sign for Democrats who have focused their midterm messaging on trying to protect abortion access across the country.
Biden alluded to the shift on Tuesday during his speech at the Democratic National Committee event, saying he was "asking the American people to remember how you felt the day ... Roe was overturned after 50 years."
Democrats and abortion rights advocates protested the Supreme Court ruling this summer that upended the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and vowed to fight back.
But as the months have stretched on, polls have shown Republicans are gaining momentum as Election Day nears and voters have shifted much of their focus back to pocketbook issues, such as sky-high food and gas prices and soaring interest rates.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released this week found that likely voters surveyed most often identified the economy as the most important issue they face, at 44 percent and up from 36 percent in July immediately after the abortion ruling.
BUT: Veteran Democratic political strategist James Carville predicted in an August interview with CBS News that Democrats could try to keep the spotlight on abortion with results. Earlier that week, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to restrict abortion in a 59 percent to 41 percent.
"You could feel there was a lot of energy," Carville said about the Kansas vote. "They were very smart in the way they went about this."
More than a dozen states have moved to ban abortion since the Supreme Court ruling, and some GOP lawmakers have suggested they'll pursue a nation-wide ban if they gain control of Congress.
Klain chimes in: The president's chief of staff and prolific Twitter user, Ron Klain, clarified after the speech that Biden is not ignoring other pressing issues with the renewed focus on abortion rights, saying it's not an "either / or" matter.
Filibuster factor: A constant theme running through Tuesday's event was the reality that Democrats don't have enough congressional support currently to address abortion. The party holds a razor-thin 50-50 advantage in the Senate, with Vice President Harris serving as the tie-breaker.
But major policy changes, like abortion legislation, must have 60 votes to get over the chamber's filibuster rule unless the majority bands together for an exception. Conservative Democrats have resisted carving out one for abortion, citing concerns over future use down the road.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't answer when reporters asked after the event how many Democratic senators would be "enough" to the president.
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