Republicans are setting their focus on parents’ rights ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections.
The GOP sees parents’ rights as having the potential to swing key Senate and House races toward their party and help them win back power in Congress.
The blanket descriptor of ‘parents’ rights’ covers an array of issues that bubbled to the forefront after the onset of the COVID pandemic. In a broad way, the umbrella of issues argues in favor of giving parents a say in their children’s education, including where they attend school, what they are taught, whether race is discussed, and how LGBTQ issues are discussed, among other issues.
Republicans believe Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory last year provides a blueprint for how the issue can propel GOP candidates to success.
In Virginia, Youngkin capitalized on frustration over mask mandates and remote learning even after vaccines were widely available, as well as the handling of LGBTQ issues in the classroom, in his campaign to defeat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (Democrat).
Republicans believe many of those same issues apply to parents across the country. They hope that these issues ultimately could convince voters that the Democrat party is overreaching, and is making decisions that parents should be the ones to make.
Republicans have called the Covid lockdowns “unscientific,” and are riding the coattails of that massive issue. Many conservatives in the U.S. refused to lock down, wear masks, or get vaccinated, despite science.
From there, they have launched into other issues that do not fit the Republican ideology, including apparently LGBTQ issues, abortion issues, and race.
“Whether it’s unscientific lockdowns and mask mandates, destructive ideologies, or an open border that’s allowing ‘rainbow’ fentanyl targeting children to pour into our country, Democrats consistently put their special interests first, and our kids suffer for it,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in an op-ed earlier this month for Newsmax.
Strategists largely agree that the midterms will turn on voters’ views on the economy, with much of the focus on the cost of gas, groceries, and other goods. Abortion rights will also likely be a major factor in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and some Republicans subsequently pushing for national restrictions on when women can get the procedure.
But parents’ rights are an issue many voters feel strongly about, according to Republican strategists and grassroots activists, and lawmakers have been publicly discussing the topic for months
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