Welcome to Thursday’s edition of Washington Secrets. We ask whether Sens. Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, and Todd Young have buyer’s remorse over their Massachusetts endorsement of a candidate who backs abortion up to birth. If they do, they aren’t saying. Plus, what is up with the polls in Arkansas? Have Democrats got a toehold in the Senate race? We break down the flawed polling methodologies that skew everything leftwards.Will history remember Brian Shortsleeve, a Marine veteran and former venture capitalist who is competing to be the Republican nominee for the next governor of Massachusetts?He is almost certain to lose his primary next week.
So will history remember the three senators who endorsed him? And do Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Todd Young (R-IN) endorse his radical pro-abortion stance?They must have known what they were getting into when they picked Shortsleeve ahead of the favorite, Michael Minogue. Shortsleeve, after all, hailed from the Mitt Romney wing of the party, even if he has tacked to the right, embracing Donald Trump’s positions and adopting a hardline on immigration.They might not have expected him to step up his abortion messaging, however. In May, after all three endorsed, Shortsleeve hit the issue hard, positioning himself as “the pro-choice candidate.”“I am the pro-choice candidate. Mike Minogue is an anti-choice candidate,” he told WBV in May. “He does not support a woman’s right to choose. He will never win a state election in Massachusetts, period.”Shortsleeve made a similar case in a series of interviews around that time.Fast forward to last week, and the issue was back in the headlines.Gov. Maura Healey (D-MA) signed a bill into law that will make it easier to obtain late-term abortions. Healey said it was designed to ensure that physicians could exercise appropriate judgment and that women could rely on doctors they trusted.Conservatives described it as “dystopian” and said the new law would allow abortions right up until the moment of birth — except for Shortsleeve, who said he backed the changes.“Brian Shortsleeve has been clear throughout this campaign that he is pro-choice and believes these deeply personal decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor,” said campaign spokesman Pat Nestor. “This legislation is largely consistent with protections already established under current Massachusetts law, and as governor, Brian would sign it.”So what do Scott, Cotton, and Young make of it? All three have been vocal in their opposition to late-term abortion and underlined Shortsleeve’s right-wing credentials when they endorsed.Cotton, after all, praised Shortsleeve as “a consistent, lifelong conservative.” Scott highlighted his “steadfast support of Republican candidates and conservative causes.”Are they pulling their endorsements? Do they agree with his abortion stance? Secrets messaged their offices to find out.Staff for Scott and Cotton did not respond. Young’s office directed Secrets to the campaign staff, who did not respond either.Secrets suspects that they hope this all goes away next week, when Shortsleeve is likely to lose the primary. (A poll out two days ago suggests Minogue will romp to victory by a two-to-one margin.)But some conservatives are keeping score.“I would expect those senators to denounce their endorsement of a pro-late term abortion candidate,” one GOP strategist told Secrets.It is all a reminder that abortion is far from a settled issue for Republicans, despite the Supreme Court throwing out Roe v. Wade in 2022.Former Vice President Mike Pence, for example, has kept up a stream of warnings that the second Trump administration has abandoned traditional conservative anti-abortion principles in favor of “populism.”And turning the issue over to the states may have triggered a patchwork approach and opened a whole can of worms. READ MORE: INFANTICIDE IS BACKWhat is going on with polling in Arkansas?
