New poll shows Americans at odds over Black history

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A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that white Americans are just as likely to favor (40%) as to oppose (41%) a ban on teaching Advanced Placement courses in African American studies in public schools — the same sort of ban that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently threatened to implement in Florida, unleashing a storm of national controversy.

In contrast, Black Americans (65% oppose, 20% favor) and Democrats (70% oppose, 19% favor) are far more resistant to a DeSantis-style ban. Yet because white Americans outnumber Americans of color — and because a full 58% of DeSantis’s fellow Republicans support a ban — the overall number of Americans who are against banning AP African American studies (46%) does not even clear the 50% mark. CONTINUED

Andrew Romano, Yahoo News

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The Verdict Is In: Fans Say Tom Brady Is the GOAT Quarterback — but Not the GOAT Athlete

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The never-ending debate on who is the GOAT (common parlance for “greatest of all time”) NFL quarterback has been settled — at least for now. Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, who announced his retirement last week, holds that distinction, according to U.S. adults and NFL fans in a new Morning Consult survey.

Brady was selected as the best QB ever in resounding fashion among self-identified NFL fans, 32 percentage points ahead of the runner-up, San Francisco 49ers Hall of Famer Joe Montana.

But Brady’s GOAT status does not extend to all sports. NBA legend Michael Jordan has the quarterback beat as the greatest athlete of all time, per the survey. CONTINUED

Mark J. Burns, Morning Consult

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The State of the State of the Union

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President Biden relayed a largely upbeat and optimistic report for his State of the Union address to Congress this week.

His message focused on jobs and the economy directing energy towards infrastructure in his speech and flexing some rhetorical muscle at China. While trying to paint a rosy picture, he directly sparred with and acknowledged the division and gridlock in Washington.

But, was that what he needed to do? Was the president on message and did he rally support on some of the biggest issues facing the nation? Below in five charts we look at the politics around the State of the Union. CONTINUED

Clifford Young & Sarah Feldman, Ipsos

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Dissatisfaction With U.S. Abortion Policy Hits Another High

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Americans are more dissatisfied with U.S. abortion policies now than they have been at any point in Gallup’s 23-year trend, and those who are dissatisfied are three times as likely to prefer less strict rather than more strict abortion laws. The record-high 69% of U.S. adults dissatisfied with abortion laws includes 46% who prefer that these laws be made less strict, marking a 16-percentage-point jump in this sentiment since January 2022. …

Record percentages in all party groups are now dissatisfied and call for less strict abortion laws, but the 74% of Democrats with these attitudes is up the most — 31 points in one year. The same response rose 13 points among independents to 44%, and it was statistically unchanged and far lower, at 17%, among Republicans. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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Trump and the GOP Are No Longer One and the Same

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… Anyone starting to write Trump’s political obituary would be well advised to put the pen down because, politically speaking, he does seem to have more than the proverbial cat’s nine lives. But the political environment is different from four years ago, and it cannot be reassuring for him or his backers.

Four years ago, in February 2019, the party apparatus was all his—there was not even a whiff of talk of a challenge to his renomination. Criticism of him within the GOP came from a mere 10 percent of the party, the “Never Trumpers.”

Everything seems different this time. Prior to last month’s Republican National Committee’s meeting in California, The New York Times’ Reid J. Epstein and Lisa Lerer queried all 168 RNC members: “Just four offered an unabashed endorsement of Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign.” CONTINUED

Charlie Cook

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DeSantis, Trump Are Main Focus of GOP Voters for 2024

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump continue to be the only 2024 possibilities generating significant top-of-mind support from Republican voters in the latest Monmouth University Poll. While Trump has gained some ground over the past two months, he trails DeSantis in a head-to-head contest. At the same time, either candidate is preferred to other popular Republican officeholders, suggesting that the race is a two-person contest in most GOP voters’ minds right now. …

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gets a fairly solid 48% favorable and 15% unfavorable rating, with about a third who do not give him a rating. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a clearly negative rating of 23% favorable and 53% unfavorable among his party’s voters, with one-fourth offering no opinion. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the MAGA-affiliated Georgia congresswoman, has a 30% favorable and 19% unfavorable rating, while one-third offer no opinion and one-fifth say they have not heard of her. CONTINUED

Monmouth University Polling Institute

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