Title IX and the growth of women’s sports

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On June 23rd, the nation will mark the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, the groundbreaking legislation which banned discrimination based on sex in the United States. Fifty years later, most Americans recognize Title IX’s effect on the growth of women’s sports, but nearly half think more needs to be done to level the playing field for female athletes.

Seventy-five percent of Americans, including 83% of Americans who have heard of Title IX and 78% of sports fans, believe Title IX played a role in increasing the prominence of women’s sports in the last few decades. Men (17%) are more likely than women (11%) to consider Title IX to be the main catalyst for the growth of women’s sports. CONTINUED

Marist Center for Sports Communication/Marist Poll

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Even in a Great Year, Republicans’ Winnable Seats Are Limited

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Just as it is rare for rivers to reverse their flow, in the last six months before a midterm election the clear direction of that campaign almost never reverses. Midterm elections are almost always referenda on the sitting president and governing party, with the cumulative impressions of how that president and the party in charge are performing gradually hardening. Conditions can improve or deteriorate, but the direction, generally speaking, doesn’t reverse. …

It is difficult to see even how a reversal of Roe v. Wade or the gun issue can trump economic concerns in general and inflation in particular this November. Abortion, guns, or both may very well come to haunt Republicans in the future, perhaps 2024 or more likely 2026, but in the near term, nothing is likely to overshadow the economy. CONTINUED

Charlie Cook

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How Much Is Biden to Blame for His Poor Approval Ratings?

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… With dispirited Democrats braced for losing the House and maybe the Senate in November, a relevant question is whether the current moment of political torment was brought on by easily avoidable miscues by Biden or whether it was inevitable. It’s tempting to begin with Biden’s dismal 41 percent approval rating. …

The reality that all twenty-first century presidents have been unpopular provides scant consolation for Democratic candidates who feel saddled with Biden’s mixed record in office. But what about the reality of the past year and a half? In short, how much of this is Biden, and how much is it the excruciating times in which we live? Let’s take them one by one. CONTINUED

Walter Shapiro, New Republic

Recent polls: President Biden

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Steady 58% of Americans Do Not Want Roe v. Wade Overturned

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Americans remain largely opposed to overturning Roe v. Wade, as a steady 58% majority believe that the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that recognized abortion as a constitutional right should stand, while 35% want it to be reversed. These sentiments are essentially unchanged since 2019. …

Partisans’ opinions are sharply polarized on the issue, with 80% of Democrats, 62% of independents and 31% of Republicans saying they do not want Roe v. Wade overturned. In contrast, 58% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 15% of Democrats want it reversed. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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No, Ann Coulter, I Am Not Responsible for the ‘Great Replacement’ Theory

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Ann Coulter, in so many words, thinks that I am responsible for the mass shooting in Buffalo in mid-May.

Not me alone. After the shooting, Coulter wrote a column dismissing the idea that Republican politicians and commentators had popularized the “Great Replacement” theory, a conspiracy theory that the young, white Buffalo shooter cited as a motivation before killing 10 people at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Instead, Coulter argued that the theory had been popularized by political analysts and Democratic operatives who have predicted that the nation’s changing demographics will benefit Democrats over time. …

It might go without saying that documenting demographic change is not the same as using it to incite and politically mobilize those who are fearful of it. It’s something like the difference between reporting a fire and setting one. But given how many right-wing racial provocateurs are trying to disavow the consequences of their “replacement” rhetoric, it apparently bears explaining how their incendiary language differs from the arguments of mainstream demographic and electoral analysts. CONTINUED

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic

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‘Pro-Choice’ Identification Rises to Near Record High in U.S.

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A Gallup poll conducted mostly after the draft of a Supreme Court decision addressing abortion rights was leaked finds a marked shift in public attitudes over the past year. After a decade in which Americans’ identification as “pro-choice” varied narrowly between 45% and 50%, the percentage has jumped six points to 55% in the latest poll, compared with the prior measure a year ago. CONTINUED

Lydia Saad, Gallup

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