"Deeply sad," Abortion Ad?

A right-wing blog took a swing this week at Rachel Hunt’s abortion ad – and at her father, former Governor Jim Hunt.

In a blog headlined “Rachel Hunt releases deeply sad campaign video,” Andrew Dunn wrote in Longleaf Politics:

“State Sen. Rachel Hunt is making the abortion issue the centerpiece of her campaign for lieutenant governor. In a two-minute video released this week, Hunt laments the overturning of Roe v. Wade and says access to abortion is crucial to allowing women to live their dreams. I can’t help but come away from watching it feeling deeply sad that so many young women today are taught to believe that they can’t possibly succeed if they have a family.”

That’s a deliberate, deeply sad distortion.

The ad doesn’t say or suggest in any way that women “can’t possibly succeed if they have a family.” It says the opposite: that Roe v Wade gave women freedom to make their own decisions about families and careers.

Hunt proved that in her own life, raising a family and pursuing a successful career.

Next, Dunn distorts history:

“Interestingly, her father, former Gov. Jim Hunt, made abortion a key part of his 1984 run for the U.S. Senate, claiming that Republicans would ban abortions in the case of rape and outlaw birth control. The elder Hunt lost that race, and neither of his predictions came to pass. The 86-year-old lion of North Carolina politics is featured heavily in the ad — and he makes an appearance himself at the end of the video.”

I was in the 1984 campaign. Here’s what happened.

Hunt was trailing Helms in the polls in the final weeks. We hit on an issue we thought could shake up the race: Helms had proposed bills that not only outlawed abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, but would outlaw some forms of birth control.

We ran an ad. It was like dropping a bomb. Carter Wrenn told me years later that Helms’ polls showed him dropping dramatically with women voters.

But, 40 years ago, many Democrats weren’t comfortable talking about abortion and birth control. The campaign command decided to pull the ad.

I think Hunt would have won if we had stuck with it.

Today, his predictions are coming to pass now that Roe is gone and Republicans are in power. As Rachel Hunt’s ad says, their plan is a total abortion ban – and a ban on some forms of contraception.

I’m happy to set the record straight. I’m also happy to see that, more than 22 years after leaving office, Jim Hunt still drives Republicans bonkers.

Watch Rachel Hunt’s ad – and donate to her campaign: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hunt-ad-fund?refcode=AU_RHH_FR_GEN_GEN_AC_20230612_AM1_V1_S2

Longleaf blog: https://www.longleafpol.com/p/power-grab-or-good-government?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Frachel%2520hunt&utm_medium=reader2