Pennsylvania focus groups give glimpse of widening gap between GOP and voters

Two Pennsylvania focus groups of people who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 reflect a deepening challenge for Republicans as they try to escape the abortion bind that shattered their 2022 midterm dreams.

In fact, on abortion and other topics, many of the swing voters' responses to the overall Republican agenda were downright brutal, calling it "far far right" and suggesting that perhaps Republicans should go back to school. The focus groups, which were observed by Axios' Alexi McCammond, showed that most of the swing voters—including self-identified “pro-lifers”—believed Republicans and conservative judges were engaging in egregious overreach on abortion.

The groups, consisting of 14 voters, included seven registered Republicans, four Democrats and three independents.