Kansas abortion vote showed that voters support progressive ideas...but not necessarily the party

[SouthBayDem]

Frankly I was shocked seeing Kansas voting "no" on Amendment 2 that would have made abortion illegal in the state. The "ban abortion" side got only 41 percent. FORTY ONE PERCENT! In a state that's had a long tradition of voting Republican dating back to the Civil War.

But that result was an echo of some state ballot initiatives in 2014, a year favoring Republicans. Four states held referendums on raising the minimum wage. They all voted yes. Guess which states they were: Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. These are all states whose electoral college votes hadn't gone to the Democrat for at least a decade! And look how overwhelming some of those Yes votes were: 68% in Alaska and 65% in Arkansas. (You would think Wal-Mart could've bought enough No votes in Arkansas.)

Similarly in 2018, 65% of Arizona voters rejected Proposition 305, a proposal to expand school vouchers. Yet in that same election, Republican Doug Ducey got 56% of the vote for governor - and he would later sign a bill similar to Prop 305.

I could go on and on. Over three quarters of Americans WHO OWN GUNS support expanded background checks on gun purchases. And giving some undocumented immigrants an opportunity to become citizens is favored by majorities. But that doesn't necessarily show in the people they send to Congress and state legislatures.

TL;DR - there are so many voters out there who vote one way when it comes to candidates but another way directly on specific issues.

[EnergizedLib]

1. And that's why

In my opinion, the Indiana State Legislature made a mistake in the logic to justify not putting abortion in the ballot, saying representatives can be voted on.

There are Republicans who support marriage equality.

There are people all over the spectrum who support the right (not the privilege) to choose.

[JI7]

2. Depends on the issue. Many health care proposals were rejected. Another thing that hurts Democrats

is the perception of being seen as soft on crime.

Also the Kansas vote probably also had to do with the way the issue was framed as a slippery slope on medical privacy matters and how it could affect other things people seek health care for.

[PortTack]

3. JMHO...that is the stupidest thing I've heard. Talk about never accomplishing anything in your life

[brooklynite]

4. Not exactly...

T shows that people don’t support extreme conservative ones.

A referendum on supporting abortion IN ALL CASES would have likely lost as well.

[Merlot]

5. It's because republicans and fox have spent years demonizing democrats

and the democratic party. All they hear day in and day out is how horrible democrats and the "democrat" party are. They never talk about policies. So of course they can't vote for democrats, but have no problem voting for democratic policies - because democratic policies are popular.

I don't see this changing.