Ed Kilgore is managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and a frequent contributor to a variety of political journals.
Some readers may remember that back in May, there was a brouhaha over polls that allegedly showed a major shift towards the pro-life position on abortion among Americans. Much of it came from a Gallup poll that suddenly showed a majority of Americans, for the first time ever, considering themselves "pro-life."
Well, Gallup's got a new poll out today, and the "pro-life majority" has vanished (more specifically, May's 51%-42% "pro-life"/"pro-choice" margin is down to 47%-46%). Even aside from the essential emptiness of self-descriptions like "pro-choice" and "pro-life, those of us who thought the May poll was an outlier seem to have been right. But I bet you're not going to hear nearly as much about it now that it's harder for conservatives to write those stories about their impending victory in the long struggle over abortion policy.
--Ed Kilgore