Clearly, the repercussion from Dobbs are only now coming into focus. As Josh Marshall notes, the political message of the Kansas referendum is clear: Dobbs is unpopular. Marshall is also correct - and has been for some time - that Democrats need a crystal clear message on this issue. The referendum in Kansas was binary; it it passed, abortion rights in Kansas would end. Democrats need to establish a similar binary. "If you give us control of the House and X number of new Senators, we will codify Roe."
Marshall's outfit at TPM has been tracking Democratic Senators' positions on what he calls Roe and Reform. In order to pass a codified version of Roe, you need to overcome the filibuster. Unless the anti-Dobbs movement is a legitimate tidal wave, you aren't going to get to 60 Democratic Senators. Therefore you need to reform the filibuster. Marshall calls it "Senate Think" when people like Angus King have more reverence for the filibuster - which is objectively terrible - than passing legislation that a supermajority of Americans support.
Getting Democrats on the record that they will trash the filibuster to write abortion rights is important to clarify the midterm elections about Roe rather than inflation. It also helps House candidates in suburban districts. By nationalizing abortion, EVERY House district and EVERY Senate race becomes a referendum on Dobbs. Surplus wins, especially in the Senate, locks in a majority for a while.
Kansas should scare the shit out of Republicans, but only if Democrats realize what the message is.
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