If abortion is the key Catholic issue in American politics, then you can’t say Catholicism has exactly disappeared from the 2010 election. “Abortion, birth control are wedge issues in governor’s race,” ran the headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Schneiderman Continues To Make Abortion Case,” added the New York Observer. “Ohio anti-abortion Democrats take flak over vote on health care bill,” reported the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Will Social Conservatives Derail the Tea Party?” asked AOL News.

Still, White House senior adviser David Axelrod was widely mocked when he announced on September 27 that abortion would “certainly be an issue” for the Democrats this campaign cycle—a topic they would be raising again and again “across the country.” As Peggy Noonan noted in the Wall Street Journal, “This suggests a certain desperation. Whatever stand you take on the social issues, you have to be blind to think they will make a big difference this year.” The actual Democratic candidates seemed to agree. A month later, Axelrod’s effort to raise the abortion issue has faded away.

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