Sargent: Morning Plum: Are Dems now winning the culture wars?

In multiple Senate races, Democrats are hammering Republican candidates over contraception and Personhood, a development that many observers interpret as a sign that Dems are now the ones on offense in the culture wars.

A new ad blitz from Karl Roves Crossroads GPS nicely captures the emerging dynamic. Colorado GOP Senate candidate Cory Gardner has been treated to the most direct and sustained assault over Personhood of any GOP candidate, and a new Crossroads ad appears designed to defend Gardner against it with an appeal to female voters.

Yet the ad does this only by changing the subject. Heres the spot, which is part of a new, $6 million campaign on Gardners behalf:

The ad never mentions Personhood or contraception. Instead, it obliquely refers to Dem attacks as political scare tactics, even as the featured women declare they want a real conversation about issues that matter, such as the economy. But, as Rebecca Berg writes, this ad actually underscores the challenge Republicans have faced this year appealing to women voters.

Now, its true that the economy is the top concern. But its obvious the Personhood movement (which declares that full human rights begin at the moment of fertilization) has, in fact, dogged Gardner. Last spring he disavowed his support for a previous state Personhood effort, admitting it restricts contraception. But Dems have pointed out that Gardner still supports a federal Personhood measure that would raise the same possibility of restrictions to some forms of contraception. Gardner has tried coming out for over-the-counter contraception, but he currently trails Dem Senator Mark Udall by double digits among women.

The broader story here, as Jonathan Martin details, is that after decades in which Republicans successfully exploited cultural wedge issues, Democrats are now on the offensive in the culture wars. Dems are now using social issues to stoke concerns among moderate voters, especially women, and motivate their base. As one conservative concedes, it is Republicans who are now out of touch with the countrys cultural center and must deal with the fact that the center has shifted.

To be clear, Republicans could still win the Senate in spite of this, thanks to the makeup of the map. But over the long term, as Ron Brownstein has explained, even if Dems are struggling to hold red state Senate seats, their embrace of cultural issues will continue to place the party on the side of an expanding majority of public opinion and a younger, more urbanized, diverse, and secular coalition that will give it an advantage in national elections. Meanwhile, these battles continue to reaffirm the GOPs identity as the champion of the forces most resistant to the profound demographic and cultural dynamics reshaping American life. Its not clear that simply changing the subject will cut it for much longer.

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* REPUBLICANS WILL GREEN-LIGHT OBAMAS ISIS PLAN: The Post reports that House GOP leaders have settled on their strategy to give Obama what he wants on ISIS. They will hold separate votes on arming the Syrian rebels and on funding the government:

Rather than inserting the military plan into the government funding bill, it will be offered as an amendment. That will enable conservative hawks who oppose the spending bill to separately back the military plan, and some Republicans and Democrats to support the spending bill. Either way, both proposals pass with a handful of dissenting Republican voices.