When the US Supreme Court tossed out 50 years of judicial precedent and overruled Roe v Wade, it was an enormous victory for the forces of the right. But it’s not clear that it was a big win for their political prospects.

The right had used Roe as a call to arms for decades – but now it was gone. Meanwhile, a much larger group of people who thought Roe was settled law got more than a little upset about it.

The Republicans were the dog that caught the car. What would it do with it now? In virtually every single vote in the United States since, we’ve seen an electorate infuriated by the decision. The Republicans still haven’t figured out how to cope with this big supposed win.

Donald Trump rallies the faithful in Michigan last week.Credit: Bloomberg

History may record that the right caught a much bigger car today. With President Joe Biden finally facing the obvious and bowing out of the race he was plainly too old to prosecute effectively, the Republican Party is suddenly holding, if I can mix my folksy metaphors here, a hot potato of epic proportions.

But wait — isn’t this a disaster for the Democrats? Chaos, changing horses in midstream, all of that? Actually, no, though there will be a few chaotic weeks. Vice President Kamala........

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