🏥 Dems' secret weapon

Plus: Inflation split-screen | Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Better Medicare Alliance   Axios Sneak Peek By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Zachary Basu · Sep 13, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Smart Brevity™ count: 994 words ... 3.5 minutes. 🗳️ Situational awareness: Polls have closed in New Hampshire, Delaware and Rhode Island, the final states to hold their primaries before the Nov. 8 election. President Biden traveled to Delaware to vote this evening.     1 big thing: Dems' surprise surrogates Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   Democrats running in close races are increasingly leaning on doctors to drive messaging on abortion, betting their credibility will appeal to bipartisan audiences and help center a polarizing political debate around health and safety, Axios' Alexi McCammond reports. Why it matters: Health care professionals aren't your typical political surrogates, but the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade reversal has changed the midterms playbook for both parties. The latest: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a national 15-week abortion ban today in a bid to unite Republicans around a common position. The bill uses the non-medical phrase "late-term abortion" in its title and pledges to "protect pain-capable unborn children" — in some instances citing contested medical assertions. Democrats see doctors as trusted voices who can help in the political fight against abortion bans by convincing voters that GOP positions aren't medically sound. What's happening: Some doctors enraged by the high court's Dobbs decision that reversed Roe say they felt compelled to appear in political ads this year for the first time. Emily Hyatt — an emergency medicine doctor who lives in Kansas but works in Missouri — told Axios she recently volunteered to help Rep. Sharice Davids' (D-Kan.) campaign when it was seeking a doctor for an abortion ad. With less than 24 hours' notice, Hyatt found a colleague to cover her ER shift so she could film. "I've always been a person who doesn't want to talk politics," she said. "But this is the hill I will die on." Context: Kansas became ground zero for post-Roe politics after voters rejected an anti-abortion constitutional amendment that would've stripped protections from the state's constitution. Zoom out: The Democratic nominees for governor in Hawaii, New Hampshire and Tennessee are all physicians who have made abortion a central pillar of their campaigns. In Georgia, local doctors convened with the state Democratic Party last month "to speak on the dangers Gov. Brian Kemp's extreme abortion ban poses" to the health care system and providers. Some Democratic groups have seized on abortion bans that would criminalize health care providers who continue to perform the procedure, running ads against GOP nominees in Michigan and Wisconsin that specifically highlight their support for those provisions. What they're saying: Rep Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), the only pro-abortion rights woman doctor in Congress, told Axios she sees herself as a "secret weapon" for Democrats — particularly when some Republicans "are looking to paint Democrats as barbarians." "I feel like I am holding the line here, and my voice is necessary because it carries a credibility when I can say that as a pediatrician, I have been in the room," she said. Share this story.     2. 🐘 GOP in containment mode Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   The number of Senate Republicans who have so far signed onto Graham's abortion bill and its House companion offers a revealing look at how GOP enthusiasm for federal restrictions has dried up in the wake of the Dobbs decision, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. A 20-week ban introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) last April — with the same premise of banning abortions when a fetus becomes "pain-capable" — had more than twice as many co-sponsors as his 15-week bill introduced today. A spokesman for Graham, whose previous 20-week bill had 45 co-sponsors, told Axios he was still working on gathering co-sponsors and that the legislation wasn't circulated before today. The big picture: Politically, the bills are designed to cement a post-Dobbs strategy in which Republicans cast themselves as closer to the mainstream on abortion than congressional Democrats, who largely don't support any restrictions. Pointing to Senate Democrats' own failed attempt to codify abortion rights into federal law, Graham said at a press conference: "I thought it would be nice to introduce a bill to define who we are." Democrats appeared thrilled to run with that same message, with campaigns and lawmakers immediately blasting out fundraising emails tying Republicans to Graham's support for a national ban. Context: 57% of voters said they oppose a 15-week ban in a Wall Street Journal poll this month, up from 43% in April — before the leaked Dobbs decision. What they're saying: "I think most of the members of my conference prefer that this be dealt with at the state level," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said at a leadership press conference. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), McConnell's deputy, noted Graham's bill doesn't mesh well with the GOP's midterm focus on the economy, inflation, the border and crime. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told Axios he doesn't plan to co-sponsor the bill, saying of Graham: "I don't know what he's doing because, you know, we kicked it back to the states." Keep reading.     3. 📈 Inflation split-screen Screenshot via Fox News With musical artist James Taylor as his opener, President Biden welcomed a massive crowd of CEOs, Democratic lawmakers, activists and other supporters to the White House to celebrate the passing of his landmark Inflation Reduction Act. Hours earlier, the closely watched Consumer Price Index showed inflation remains stubbornly high — causing the S&P 500 to plunge 4.3% in the stock market's worst day since June 2020. Former Obama Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, an influential voice in Democratic circles. Via Twitter     A message from Better Medicare Alliance Medicare Advantage helps lower health care costs for seniors     Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans spend nearly $2,000 less on out-of-pocket costs and premiums each year than those enrolled in fee-for-service plans. Lower costs are just another advantage of Medicare Advantage. Learn more.     4. 💰 Quote du jour Rep. Angie Craig. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   A sweeping New York Times investigation found 97 lawmakers or their family members traded financial assets over a three-year period in industries that could be affected by their committee work. One of them was Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who says she only discovered her college-age son was day-trading because of congressional family stock disclosure laws. (h/t Aaron Huertas) "As a mom, I would be grateful if my college student son was not allowed to own or trade stocks. And as a member of Congress, I'm working to pass a law to force him to listen to his mother."     A message from Better Medicare Alliance See why 29 million seniors choose Medicare Advantage     Seniors in Medicare Advantage spend nearly 36% less on health care costs and have a 43% lower rate of avoidable hospitalizations. No wonder 94% of seniors are satisfied with their Medicare Advantage health care coverage. Learn more about the advantages of Medicare Advantage.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight. This newsletter was edited by Zachary Basu and copy-edited by Kathie Bozanich. Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: