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A few problems.

1. I don't think either side wants a national referendum on abortion. I don't think there is any certainty on how that would swing. It would depend on how the referendum is crafted. There is broad consensus against partial birth abortion, for example. Pro lifers would ace that one, no doubt. A referendum on whether abortion should always be illegal in every circumstance would likely fail handily, even though I don't doubt pro lifers would have their chests puffed out all day on election day, only to be caught flat footed and stunned when the returns come in.

In any case, a national referendum can't overturn a Supreme Court decision - we need to get a new Supreme Court decision, or a Constitutional amendment.

2. Your reliance on 'final' referendums is misplaced. As a practical matter, any referendum is only as good as the next one. There's no finality to it and I don't know what would make you think there was.

First off, I stated that the referendum would operate within the constraints of the constitution. So, without having to go into detail I'm sure you know what I'm saying there.

Second, respectfully I think you are wrong about the abortion issue. For one thing, the liberal position would loose the black numbers on that vote because many blacks, and Latinos, are having to tolerate rubber stamping the abortion issue for the sake of greater issues involving race and economics. Many things would change and I highly doubt pro-life would loose.

Last, there is much more of a sense of finality to it than our current state on major issues so I can't understand how you think that wouldn't be an improvement. Unless of course you benefit from the state of unresolved issues.

It's all in the way you construct the referendum. As I stated, you can make it last 1 year or 25 years. It's all how it's constructed. If there was a referendum that allowed for the line item veto and the majority of America granted that proposal for a period of 2 Presidential terms then it's final until it's up again. I don't think any referendum should stay forever just as every amendment is revocable. Not only that, but if our constitution was perfect we wouldn't have a such thing as an amendment.

The fact is, no politician would dare challenge the will of the people. If we slapped their hands away from the second amendment the gun control issue would be damn near dead.

2. Your reliance on 'final' referendums is misplaced. As a practical matter, any referendum is only as good as the next one. There's no finality to it and I don't know what would make you think there was.

There's no "finality" to anything now. Most people figured Roe/Wade had settled the abortion issue and you'd never know that listening to the hard-core right2lifers.

On the other hand, get that issue out of American politics, and the democrat party would die. That's even if all you did was settle it via plebescites from one generation to the next.