CV NEWS FEED // Nicole Gaudiano reported at Business Insider that a number of Democrats plan to “swing back aggressively at Republicans” on the issue of critical race theory in schools.
Though Democrats have called Republican efforts against critical race theory a “racist dog whistle” and a “lie,” Guadiano points out, “those messages haven’t helped Democrats tamp down the uproar” and “protests at school board meetings around the country.”
Republican Glenn Youngkin spoke up for opponents of critical race theory, and subsequently won the Virginia governorship. “Republicans plan to lean into the issue in the 2022 election cycle,” Gaudiano wrote, but “Democratic strategists say the party should hit back harder against ‘divisive’ GOP claims while not losing sight of the priority for voters; the economy.”
“On a political level it’s a real threat that is allowing Republicans to claw back the inroads that Democrats have made in the suburbs over the last couple of election cycles,” Jim Manley, a longtime aide to former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, told Insider.
“Democrats haven’t yet pushed back on this issue enough, but the ‘good news’ is the party’s response is effective and there’s time to make the case before the 2022 elections, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist,” Gaudiano wrote. “They just need to make the case ‘relentlessly,’ he said.”
“It’s not just that Republicans want a bigger role for parents in education, it’s that Republicans are willing to let white supremacists write curricula,” Ferguson claimed.
“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House campaign arm for Democrats, downplayed the threat to the party in congressional races,” Gaudiano wrote. The committee tested responses to what Gaudiano called “false claims about critical race theory in K-12 schools” this fall. “The messages they say resonate most with battleground voters” were claiming that “Democrats want to teach the truth about US history and honor those who fought to make the country better,” and that “Republicans are trying to divide Americans and Democrats want to deliver for American families.”
But “Democrats’ message to voters in 2022 will be more compelling than ‘Republicans’ divisive lies,’ DCCC spokesman Chris Taylor told Insider. “Republicans stand in opposition to American families,” he said, citing Democratic efforts to “safely” reopen schools, deliver child tax credits, and create “universal pre-K and paid family leave.” “Our bet heading into 2022 is that voters will choose progress over division.”
Jim Manley added that Democrats “need to figure out how to address this phenomenon” of voters concerned about critical race theory in school curricula “without overplaying our hand … or allowing Republicans to, you know, break the education system in this country.”
“The real issue for voters is whether a candidate is on the side of parents and students or not, Ferguson said,” wrote Gaudiano:
“When Democrats talk about how Republican plans would put politicians in charge of classrooms and censor teachers, the swing voters who Republican voters thought they were winning quickly flee,” he said.
…”It can’t be dismissed as just a lie,” he said. “It needs to be defeated as a way to put politicians in charge of the classroom and white supremacists in charge of the curriculum.”
Conservative response
The Business Insider column, titled “Democrats plan to swing back aggressively at Republicans on critical race theory claims,” received numerous responses from conservatives on social media — many of them celebrating the reported Democratic strategy and expressing confidence that the messaging will backfire.
“We can only pray this article is accurate!” tweeted GOP strategist Steve Cortes. “If so, get ready for decades of political dominance from the Right.”
“Republicans will govern for 100 years if this happens,” wrote conservative journalist Raheem Kassam. “DO IT,” added pundit Ben Shapiro.
“If the GOP penetrated the DNC at a high level with secret agents and provocateurs,” wrote author John Schindler, “what exactly would they do differently?”
Subscribers to Business Insider can find the full report here.
