Posted on 02/17/2022 3:29:30 AM PST by RandFan
Coronavirus policies are beginning to boomerang on Democrats, as polls underscore public fatigue with both the pandemic and the policies intended to keep it from spreading.
Democrats have been generally unified in backing vaccinations and the use of masks and mask mandates by local communities to stop the spread, but the party's voters are becoming more divided on the continued aggressive use of such restrictions, and frustration is mounting.
In San Francisco on Tuesday, three school board members were recalled in a special recall election. The recall wasn't entirely related to COVID-19, but voters in the liberal enclave were partly upset the board members had focused on renaming schools instead of reopening them swiftly and safely.
A number of Democratic governors have taken note of the frustrations, moving to lift their mask mandates even as the Biden administration has signaled it would stick to stricter guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, the party’s generally strict stance on coronavirus safety measures could end up backfiring as Democrats find themselves on defense going into the midterms.
Republicans are already using the issue to go on the offense against Democrats, calling it hypocritical.
“The science never changed. The science didn’t matter,” said Joanna Rodriguez, deputy communications director at the Republican Governor’s Association. “The science was an excuse they used in order to control people’s lives and rule people in a way that they felt was appropriate while they played by their own rules.”
Republicans point to examples of Democrats appearing maskless in public settings as signs of what they say is their hypocrisy on the issue. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, along with most fans, appeared maskless in photos at the Super Bowl on Sunday despite L.A. County’s mask mandate for large outdoor events.
Meanwhile, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams became the subject of GOP backlash when she appeared maskless in a photo with masked schoolchildren. Abrams later apologized.
“People are realizing that at the end of the day they are tired of having leaders who aren’t going to live by the rules that they’re forcing on everyone else,” Rodriguez said.
Democrats argue that the decisions being made by their leaders on coronavirus vary from state by state and are influenced by the science learned from the latest stage of the pandemic.
“Democratic governors have led the way in combating the pandemic, and the results show it. Instead of basing any decision on politics, their recommendations use the best science available to implement evidence-based policies that will work best in their states and for their constituents,” said Christina Amestoy, a senior adviser with the Democratic Governors Association. “While the execution may vary state to state, there is no ambiguity about the overarching goals: get the economy growing and keep people safe.”
Amestoy and Democrats have also hit Republicans over “dangerous anti-vax rhetoric,” or what they say is the denial that the pandemic is still ongoing.
“The contrast in leadership, and the lack thereof, could not be starker,” she said.
But Democratic leaders are also facing pushback from members of their own party on the issue of rolling back mask mandates.
The moves to lift mask mandates are in stark contrast with the Biden administration, which is sticking to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, at the end of last year while the omicron variant was surging in communities across the U.S., President Biden said the surge needed to be solved at the state level.
Washington, D.C., lifted its vaccine mandate this week and is set to lift its mask mandate next month, leading to one Democratic DC council member to propose legislation that would reinstate the city’s vaccine mandate.
And Democratic voters do not appear to be warming to the idea of lifting. A Politico/Morning Consult survey released on Wednesday found that 65 percent of Democrats think it’s too early for states to rescind mask mandates.
Democratic strategists and operatives maintain that its voters and leaders are not divided on COVID-19 strategy but say the pandemic has entered a new stage.
“We’re at a different stage because of the result of good policy-making decisions backed by scientists, by Biden, and by Democratic governors,” said one Democratic strategist.
Strategists argue that it’s too early to tell how the rollback of restrictions will impact the midterms, but acknowledge the party is on the defense going into November.
“We’re struggling right now because I think a lot of people see us as out of touch on inflation, they see us as out of touch on crime, and we just simply can’t afford to be viewed as out of touch on COVID,” said Tyler Law, a Democratic strategist and former national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Coachella returning without mask requirement A Monmouth University poll released last month found that 70 percent of respondents said they agreed with the sentiment “it’s time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives,” including 89 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of Independents and 47 percent of Democrats.
Democrats say the partisanship on the issue is unsurprising but warn the party should be cognizant of the views of voters in the middle.
“What we are seeing is the folks in the middle, who themselves are extremely likely to be vaccinated and boosted, they are starting to lose patience with the slow speed at which we return to normalcy,” Law said. “And so we can’t afford politically to lose those voters in the middle.”
(AP) - Some Democrats here in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they’re Democrats.
The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge their party affiliation publicly. These Democrats are used to being outnumbered by the local Republican majority, but as their numbers continue to dwindle, the few that remain are feeling increasingly isolated and unwelcome in their own communities.
“The hatred for Democrats is just unbelievable,” said Tim Holohan, an accountant based in rural McKean County who recently encouraged his daughter to get rid of a pro-Joe Biden bumper sticker. “I feel like we’re on the run.”
The climate across rural Pennsylvania is symptomatic of a larger political problem threatening the Democratic Party ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Beyond losing votes in virtually every election since 2008, Democrats have been effectively ostracized from many parts of rural America, leaving party leaders with few options to reverse a cultural trend that is redefining the nation’s political landscape.
Great news!
SC, GA and Fla were basically opened since April 2020. Data shows that these states weathered the pandemic as well as, if not better from the economic point of view, than heavily regulated blue states. We all know about the Hopkins study that mitigation efforts had minimal impact with heavy costs. The last vestige of the campaign to incite mass fear is seen in the bitter clingers to masking.
Covid is only one factor in this. The story that’s being missed is that there is a great shift happening with the parties, as blue collar, labor, and African Americans move increasingly to the Republican Party.
Oppressive Covid policies, demonization of un-vaxxed people (a huge proportion of whom are black), the scab-picking over race, the constant siloing of people by category, inflation, unprotected borders, the promotion of mental illness over the rights of others. All of these hit working Americans more than the elite, and the Democrat party is losing their traditional base by the droves.
Reversing Covid oppression represents a bit of an awakening on the left, but it’s not going to be enough. If the current trends continue, the Democrat Party could end up in the wilderness for a very long time.
The question is: Can the Republicans capitalize on this, or will they destroy this opportunity as they have been known all too well to do…
The Dems are already back peddling on their vaccination mandates and mask requirements...
They know the gig is up. This was all about control. Now that the primaries and general election is months away, they’re running scared.
Love it.
They’re just now sensing the public ire? About 18 mos late.
But will they remember in November? Probably not.
It's always been about politics, and it took the last sentence to prove it.
Remember in November? Yeah. November's a lifetime away politically speaking. We need to keep hammering home the fascism the Democrat party promoted throughout the "pandemic" until election day is over, the votes are counted and the House & Senate are lost to the Democrats for a generation.
I wish Tucker or Jesse would do a segment with clips and orders from all the dems that banned HCl and Ivermectin. Do one on Whitmer and her barring people from buying SEEDS-remember that. Call them tyrants.
They’re just now sensing the public ire? About 18 mos late.
They always had the crazy Karens backing them up and that’s who they listened to. Liberal women are bat sh^& crazy.
Democrats don’t follow the science, they follow instructions from the teachers unions.
Not one, not one American, Democrat, Republican, Independent, or, otherwise should tune in to the Biden SOTU Address on February 20th, 2022 .....PERIOD!!! The reasons are plain and obvious to all!!! Biden must be removed from office by his failed leaderless,Democrat Party like right now!!!
Beware of the carrot on the stick it’s all about the mid term elections bait.
Remember how the media pimped Biden as the unifier......
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