Perhaps the most popular Democrat political gambit for the last 25 years has been to accuse every Republican of being an extremist on abortion. Democrats have had some measure of success at this since the media basically shares their views on abortion, by and large. Even the rare media person who tilts center-right overall tends to be pro-choice. Strong pro-lifers in the media are virtually non-existent, and if they do exist, they are well-closeted.

The facts, however, show consistently that elected Democrats, most especially including Mark Udall, are the true extremists on abortion. Polling by Gallup has consistently shown that the position “abortion should be legal in all circumstances” is supported by roughly 25% of the population. For a frame of reference, this is roughly the same portion of the population that could fairly be called 9/11 truthers or that still believes that vaccines cause autism even after the study purporting to show the link was widely and publicly discredited.  In every other arena, if you are an ardent, loud supporter of a proposition that only 25% of America can get behind, the media does not do you the favor of treating you like a serious person but that is exactly what they do with elected Democrats who hold a position on abortion that is well outside the American mainstream – and no one has been further outside the mainstream of American opinion on abortion than Mark Udall.

Mark Udall has publicly said that he supports literally no limits on abortion. None at all:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J0BDeW6Hbc#t=33[/youtube]

Let’s unpack this a bit. This means that Mark Udall would support abortions that are performed for the sole reason that the child is a girl, when the parents wanted a boy. This is a position that is favored by less than 20% of Americans. Udall is on the record opposing parental notification/consent laws for minors who get abortions. 78% of Americans, including 46% of the abortion extremists who believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” support these laws. Udall is also on record supporting the legality of partial-birth abortions, a position which is held by only a tiny number of abortion extremists in America.

The most bizarre thing about Udall’s extremism on abortion is that he seems to not understand that it is extreme. In an election where Udall has been fighting neck and neck with Cory Gardner, roughly half of all the ubiquitous ads Udall has run on Colorado television have been about abortion. In a year where voters have existential anxieties about the direction America is taking it seems that literally the only thing Udall can find to talk about is how he plans to fight tooth and nail for an abortion position that is well outside the American mainstream, and he doesn’t even realize it.

Perhaps there’s a reason that Udall is lately cratering in the polls. He’s out of step with Americans’ priorities and even further out of step with their views. And based on his record, he has absolutely nothing else to talk about.