Thread by @DavidAFrench

A smart post (as always!) by @RameshPonnuru. Ramesh is right to point out that a glass that is 70 percent empty is still 30 percent full. Abortion politics are matters of both position (what should the law be?) and priority (how much should I care?), and /1

https://twitter.com/RameshPonnuru/status/1470429836481118209

White Evangelicals might be more pro-life than other demographics and rank the issue higher, but most still don't rank it as highest priority and rank other things (immigration, deficits(?), health care costs, etc.) higher. See, for example: /2

https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status/1466543339197456386?s=21

And see, for example: /3

https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status/1466543351671390209?s=20

And see, for example: /4 religioninpublic.blog/2020/08/27/for…

But 30 percent is still 30 percent, and that can and does make a real difference, especially when there's also evidence that the minority of Republicans (including Evangelicals) who prioritize life is larger than the minority of Democrats who prioritize abortion rights. /5

See, for example, the recent VA governor's race. In a 27 percent white Evangelical electorate, only 8 percent of *all* voters prioritized abortion rights. But 58 percent of that 8 percent were pro-life. /6

The bottom line is most white Evangelicals don't prioritize abortion in voting, most don't seek to ban abortion, and most prioritize other issues (including immigration), but the minority who do prioritize life are critically important to the cause. /end