Republicans running for president can stand behind their sanctimoniousness all they want, but the voters they seek aren’t buying into their rhetoric on at least one critical issue: abortion.

We heard most of the candidates standing on the Miami stage last night proclaim their “pro-life” principles. They oppose abortion and most of the debate participants want to place a national limit on when women can terminate a pregnancy. One notable exception was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who stands behind states’ ability to make those decisions.

That’s all fine. Except for this fact. The voters in GOP primary states aren’t buying it. They keep rejecting ballot measures and referenda calling for national limits Indeed, the voters take an entirely different view on abortion than these individuals who want to take office in January 2025.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina proclaimed loudly that he is a proud Christian and wants the nation to return to laws based on “Judeo-Christian principles,” but he forgot to mention something I believe is important: The founders created a secular government that adheres to a secular document, the Constitution. Voters seem to understand that fact more than the individuals who want to be elected POTUS.

Oh … and Donald Trump, who skipped the debate? He is unprincipled, untethered to any moral standard. His views on this stuff don’t matter one damn bit.

I am beginning to believe the notion put forward by a USA Today columnist, Ingrid Jacques, herself a conservative who doesn’t want President Biden and Vice President Harris re-elected.

She writes: “It kind of seems like they want to lose.”