How restrictions on teaching about race and sexual orientation have ‘hijacked’ parents’ concerns about Covid

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The pressures of the coronavirus pandemic are reconfiguring the politics of education, dividing Democrats and creating new openings for Republicans.

Both sides of that equation will be on display Tuesday in a recall election for three school board members in San Francisco, one of the nation’s most liberal cities. The recall, which has split local Democrats, has combined genuine grassroots discontent over extended school closings during the coronavirus outbreak with massive funding from longtime critics of public education and some big supporters of Republican political campaigns. Divisions among Democrats are also sharpening in the accelerating blue state debates about how quickly to lift school mask mandates and other public health restrictions as coronavirus caseloads plummet nationwide.

Yet these internecine struggles between liberals are obscuring a much more expansive and explosive conflict spreading across the red states: an aggressive drive by Republicans to censor how public school teachers talk about race, gender, sexual orientation and other sensitive topics. CONTINUED

Ronald Brownstein, CNN

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Republicans still back Trump but don’t want GOP to punish disloyalty

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Just over a year since the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Republicans mostly still support Donald Trump, but it appears as if many would have their party put that day behind them and talk about other issues.

Many in the GOP don’t want the party to take a position on it at all. And while the former president remains a popular figure among the base, the entire rank and file isn’t entirely falling into line. In fact, a sizable majority approve of former Vice President Mike Pence’s adherence to constitutional procedure that day, and few want to see the party punish Republicans it considers disloyal to Trump. CONTINUED

Kabir Khanna & Anthony Salvanto, CBS News

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UT/Texas Politics Project Poll: Abbott Holds 10-Point Lead Over O’Rourke; Inflation Hitting Texans

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Incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke appear poised to receive their respective party’s nominations in the March 1 Texas primary elections, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll. Abbott leads O’Rourke 47% to 37% in the likely though still hypothetical matchup for the November general election.

Turning to the economy, a large majority of Texans report feeling the effects of inflation. Eighty-eight percent said that based on their experience, prices for goods and services have “generally increased.” Among that group, slightly more than half, 51%, reported that rising prices have had a “major impact” on their household financial situation. …

Asked to rate President Joe Biden’s overall job performance, 44% of Texans approved and 42% disapproved. CONTINUED

UT News

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Democrats, Speak to Working-Class Discontent

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… Today, the Democrats’ working-class problem isn’t limited to white workers. The party is also losing support from working-class Blacks and Hispanics—a daunting 12 points off their margin since 2016, according to Ruy Teixeira.

Even before last November’s election, commentators and analysts were pointing to the erosion of Democrats’ working-class support. Then Democrats lost Virginia’s gubernatorial race, where Republican Glenn Youngkin won three-quarters of white voters without a four-year degree and two-thirds of those in rural and small-town Virginia. His campaign generated such high voter turnout in Trump country that it increased the white vote share from two-thirds in 2018 and 2020 to three-quarters. If Republicans continue winning working-class votes at the rate they did in Virginia, Democrats have little chance.

After studying working-class voters for nearly four decades, I believe the trajectory can be shifted or reversed. But there is no room for error. There is no room for fools. There is no time for strategists who look down on or rule out voters who fail a purist civics test. There is also no room for sensibilities that keep us from clearly understanding our options. CONTINUED

Stanley B. Greenberg (Greenberg Research), American Prospect

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Dissatisfaction With U.S. Immigration Level Rises to 58%

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Nearly six in 10 Americans, 58%, are dissatisfied with the level of immigration into the U.S. today, while 34% are satisfied. This marks an eight-percentage-point increase in dissatisfaction since last year and a return to the 2019-2020 range. The 58% dissatisfied includes 35% of all Americans who would prefer that immigration be decreased, 9% increased, and 14% who want levels kept the same. …

Record-high dissatisfaction among Republicans is largely driving the overall rise in dissatisfaction with immigration levels in the U.S. Since last year, spanning the change from the Trump to the Biden administration, Republicans’ dissatisfaction has grown from 55% to 87%. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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The allure of ‘strong and wrong’

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‘Strong and wrong beats weak and right’ — that was former President Bill Clinton’s shrewd analysis 20 years ago of the Democrats’ failure to make gains in the first midterm election of the George W. Bush administration. The year was 2002, and Bush was still polling relatively high a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

A leader with either excessive strength or excessive weakness can be a danger to democracy. Right now, many Americans are troubled by President Biden’s perceived weakness. Last month, the Associated Press-National Opinion Research Center poll asked how well the word “strong leader” describes President Biden. Only 25 percent said “extremely well” or “very well.” Almost half said “not very well” or “not well at all.” CONTINUED

Bill Schneider (George Mason U.), The Hill

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