Most expected there was going to be something that turned the red tsunami in the mid terms into a wave. People were expecting some sort of variant of covid to suddenly appear that'd demand wide application of ballots to be sent out across the land. What they got instead was no constitutional guaranteed right to abortion to heighten alarm bells of democratic voters poised to cross over to the other side in the mid terms in disgust of what they enabled into office in the last presidential election. Inflation, rising gas and food prices was the driving forces behind polls showing democrats willing to cross the barrier. That was up until the overturn of Roe vs Wade. The overturn wasn't even the most damaging thing to come out of it but it will serve as the main catalyst to cut down on the expected tide.
This opinion doesn't strike down abortions all together it grants power back to states to set abortion bans or regulations. This isn't the 1960's or 70's, people today are connected in ways they've never been networking together to organize for a cause. If regulations in one state were to restrictive they'd find ways to get people to other states. That's exactly what we are seeing playing out including the promise of participation by employers and huge conglomerates across the country to fund ways to help people secure abortions. Many will regard the thrust back to the states as a pivotal moment in regards to defending a women's right to chose. It doesn't stop the fight, that's been ongoing since the inception of Roe vs Wade, the decision only changes the battleground(s).
The posturing of this, in my opinion, as a politically aligned tool can be seen in the early unauthorized release of the opinion and words thereafter of Clarence Thomas after the official release of the opinion. If one is of the mindset of now a majority of Americans who has concluded there was tampering involved in our last presidential election, if an expected tsunami doesn't transpire in the midterms, than there has to be a really compelling reason why. There really wouldn't be as good a reason as people fearing the lost of their constitutional rights granted by the Supreme Court being taken away by that very same court. The trick to using it as a political advantage was to let prevailing heads to cool. Cool enough to not inflict outright carnage often seen but enough to also hear the other side of the message, that being Thomas's words the court should revisit the constitutional right to gay marriage and guaranteed right to contraceptives for women. Hence the early leaked version of the Supreme Court decision.
They want the protest they just don't want the extent of damages seen in recent years protest. They need this to realign their image and work as a political tool to cheat the election. They already know who the winners and losers are going to be it's just a matter of them convincing you that you chose them. The abortion issue is the catalyst to drive the fear of constitutional losses, inflation is a temporary moment in history, losing your constitutional guaranteed rights is years, decades, maybe forever in one's fight. That will be the repeated messaging moving forward into the midterms and the next presidential election cycle and the one they are hoping convinces people not to switch sides.