The Miami Herald on will Democrats fumble their chance?

It was Florida Democrats’ worst nightmare materializing. With the party’s chances of winning elections looking bleaker, out-of-state donors began writing the state off, the Miami Herald reported recently.

Now, though, the U.S. Supreme Court may have handed the party something of a Hail Mary pass ahead of the November elections: the potential reversal of the federal constitutional right to an abortion, as a leaked court opinion draft suggests.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, can Democrats turn public anger — and polling that shows a majority of Floridians support abortion rights — into votes? Or will they, in typical Democratic fashion, get in their own way?

There’s still debate over whether abortion rights can galvanize liberal and moderate voters to the same degree that it motivates conservatives to turn out. On Tuesday, Democrats tried to build momentum when the party’s three gubernatorial candidates hosted or attended rallies on the issue, two of them in Miami.

The issue was already brewing in Florida. Republicans in the Legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban this year that doesn’t exempt victims of rape, incest or human trafficking. GOP leaders have been unusually tight-lipped since news of the leaked draft broke. But we wouldn’t be surprised if they went even further in curtailing reproductive rights if federal protections are lifted.

But Democrats have struggled to convey a convincing message to voters while Gov. Ron Desantis has free rein to govern like an extremist.

With control of the U.S. House at stake, Democrats should have settled on a strategy months ago, if not earlier. That they haven’t is an indication of a party in disarray.