The Far Right's Culture War is Failing Badly

Poll Shows Parents Don't Want Schools to Focus on Culture Wars  +Thank you to Lunabell for the post on DU.

It's getting more difficult to trust polling data, since the midterm election pollsters had to deal with multiple skewed polls infiltrating into the data, showing a much more Republican-favoring outcome to the election.  Even a few of the reliable composite pollsters had to work hard to filter out the unreliable information that had some Republicans touting a 60 seat turnaround in the house and complete control of the Senate.  

Since the State of the Union address last Tuesday, the news media has done its usual, remarkable, unbelievable focus on the unimportant and irrelevant by trying to create their own narrative of interpretation of what is going on.  They've jumped on anything that they think will bring them ratings, including Biden's age and talk of who's running in 2024, all kinds of speculation and bug-a-boos galore, and the continued emphasis on his job approval ratings, also noting that only 32 million Americans, down from 38 million a year ago, watched the address.  You'd think they'd be thrilled at the jobs numbers, the economic news that seems to indicate we're avoiding recession and moving along nicely, the achievements of the infrastructure bill. 

The job approval rating may move off the table pretty soon.  Today, 538 posted a Rasmussen-yes, a Rasmussen poll showing 45% approval of Joe Biden's job as President, eight points higher than the same poll had Trump right after his second State of the Union.  In fact, aside from some lower rated polls here and there, the President's job approval seems pretty steady at 45% in several reliable, higher rated polls.  The composite has him at 43, but that includes several of the more obscure, Republican controlled polls that showed up and missed the midterm results by wide miles.  Given the miss that 538 made on the midterm elections, and compared to recent presidencies at the second year state of the union, I'd say Biden is not in bad shape.  

Where's the Polling Data on the Culture War?

But what I would like to know, and have been looking for information to find out, is what kind of rating the Republican culture war is getting from the voters.  Their mishmash of everything they've gathered under the umbrella of their use of the now outdated term "Woke" which they are trying to convince people are the legislative agenda priorities of their opposition, even as the opposition's focus isn't on any of that, except opposition to the bigotry and white supremacy that drips off the anti-woke Republican culture warriors.  I'd like to see the long term political effects of waging a war against wokeness, banning books, restricting school courses and violating the free speech and expression of thousands upon thousands of Americans.  

Judging from the results of the midterm elections, I'd say that agenda is not doing well at all.  Gerrymandered congressional districts were the main reason for the GOP's being able to get back a House majority, though it is not anywhere near what they would have liked, nor will it be effective in pushing the empty agenda of their investigations, which are already going nowhere because of a lack of foundational facts submitted in evidence.  I don't necessarily read a lot of Florida news, but it seems like their governor's fascist attack on free speech is making some people angry, including many of those who didn't show up to vote.  

The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade, was a massive boost to the Democrats, in spite of opposition to abortion being the central issue of the far right's culture war.  That one issue was likely responsible for the kind of turnout among Democrats that they needed.  Democrats were highly successful in taking back state houses this midterm, and that was very likely the biggest motivating factor for those voters who turned out.  And I think that's an indication that the approach to the culture wars taken by the far right, which is the anchor of their political movement, is not popular with the voters. 

Some of the focus groups set up by media outlets after the SOTU, indicated that voters are more interested in the narrative the Democrats now seem to control than anything having to do with the culture wars.  Few people see any real threat from critical race theory, identified by the right, obscurely, as CRT, but they do think that the wealthy should pay their fair share of taxes, and are incensed when evidence shows that some of those who made the biggest profits during the previous administration paid no taxes at all.  

More Americans are Woke than the Far Right Realizes

I think that what Ron Desantis is doing in Florida is going to create a lot of backlash that will ruin any chance he has of being elected President of the United States.  Most Americans don't know anything bout Critical Race Theory, but they do recognize racial bigotry when they see it, and most Americans do not believe that this country was set up to be a white, Christian nation by its founders, and aren't interested in perpetuating that false idea. I don't think a majority of Americans are in favor of censoring school courses aimed at racial understanding and reconciliation.  Most Americans are horrified by mass shootings and are in favor of gun control legislation.  And most Americans don't believe ridiculous conspiracy theories.  

Taking the political battle to a culture war is distracting from the real issues at hand.  There are a lot of people in this country who do not understand personal liberty, free speech, freedom of conscience and religious liberty, and want to use the government as a means to their end, which usually involves them receiving some privilege or benefit because of who they are.  They also realize that if the core principles of American democracy are taught in school, and students learn how to think critically and figure things out, they might make their own choices.  

There's a trade-off in this that undermines the culture warriors, and that is having to accept a level of corruption and dishonesty in those they choose to lead.  It's very difficult to be straightforward and truthful when the end is all about controlling someone else's behavior.  There's a lot of hypocrisy involved when it comes to the far right's culture war, and I think that is its downfall.  

I'm just wondering how long it will take, in a state like Florida, that is pretty much a microcosm of the whole United States, for this to blow up in their face.  In politics, it takes a while for the pendulum to swing from one side to the other, but I think, in this case, it is well on its way back from the peak it hit by electing Desantis to a second term. His hard line may be just the ticket to a Democratic resurgence in the state.  He's lined up an array of enemies in Disney, higher education and in the ethnic and religious minority groups, including the Jewish community.  I think he will feel the blowback at the worst possible time for his run at the White House.  

And I think, for most of the rest of the extremist right, it will be the 2024 election.