Led by 44-year-old conservative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Republicans look to capture the suburban middle class or soccer mom vote in 2004 by opposing public education’s obsession with racial and gender politics. Republicans position themselves in 2024 as the parents-in-charge party for education, opposing national political trends that focus on teaching racial and gender politics in public schools. Most parents want the national education curriculum focused on reading, writing and arithmetic, not on controversial socio-cultural issues related to gender identity and new interpretations of history based on prevailing trends. When DeSantis refers to “wokeness,” he’s talking about culture warriors that want gender identity and race relations woven into local, state and federal education standards. Republicans want to exploit the “woke” agenda to win back suburban and exurban voters.
When you consider the strategy of seeking large voting blocs to drive elections, Republicans seek to monopolize white suburban voters who oppose politically driven agendas by groups like Black Lives Matter, primarily focused on black civil rights. DeSantis and other Republicans oppose the College Board for endorsing a curriculum for African American studies, primarily focused on the nation’s history of injustice related to slavery and complications from racial inequality. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who’s jumped into the 2024 presidential race along with former President Donald Trump, denounced the College Board’s African American curriculum. “CRT is un-American,” Haley said, referring to Critical Race Theory. DeSantis and Haley want any reference to CRT out of U.S. education curriculum, bucking popular trends touting anti-racist training in public schools.
Democrat Party agenda has adopted Critical Race Theory and gender identity or fluidity theory into education curriculum, something DeSantis and Haley want removed from any exposure to elementary school-age students. Democrats think that emphasis on batting CRT and gender identity from education curriculum made no difference to voters in the 2020 Midterm election. Democrat strategists thought that 2020 showed that voters were far more concerned about school funding, teacher shortages and school safety, highlighting school shootings. Yet Democrat strategists all have to admit that the party has been driven by tightly controlled political agenda especially from the African American and LBGQT lobbying groups. Using education issues, keeping curriculum based on Common Core, attracts suburban and exurban white voters tired of lobbying groups driving local, state and federal education.
Republicans want to distinguish themselves in 2024 at the party opposing any curriculum discussing white privilege, a concept alien to local, state and federal education standards focusing on Common Core or other education standards. Putting the cultural war at the center of the education battle, the GOP can reclaim blocs of suburban and exurban voters lost to Democrats in recent years. Unlike Democrats, Republicans want parents back in control of school boards, largely to prevent “woke” lobbying groups from driving curriculum and education standards. Virginia Gov. Glen Younkin ran in 2021 on a parents’ rights platform, something that helped him capture the suburban vote. DeSantis passed in Florida the Parental Rights in Education Act, designed to prevent lobbyists from imposing curriculum, especially on sexual orientation or white privilege, something pushed by black lobbying groups.
Republican National Committee warned GOP elected officials that voters are more concerned about parental rights and quality education, rather than focusing of CRT or opposing the use of masks. “The cultural war issues are most potent among Republican primary voters, but that doesn’t mean that an education message can’t be effective with independent voters or the electorate as a whole,” said White Ayres, a Republican pollster that worked with DeSantis in 2018. DeSantis wants to end diversity and equity curriculum, replacing it with Western Civilization courses. “The Republicans do a great job of creating issues that aren’t issues,” said John Anzalone, a Democrat pollster who worked with President Joe Biden. Anzalone thinks that GOP education issues play well in the primaries but not in the general election. Anzalone thinks the GOP focuses too much on guns and abortion.
Democrats and Republicans continue to jockey for position in the 2024 presidential race, with Democrat focused on voting rights and preserving Social Security and Medicare. Republicans focus on cultural wars related to education attempts to appeal to suburban and exurban votes looking to return parents’ control back into the education curriculum. As Democrats push for more education control for teacher unions, Republicans push for more parents’ control and charter schools. Geoff Hart, whose research firm works for teachers’ unions, said teacher shortages and funding were still the most important issues to voters. Hart contends the CRT and gender identity issues were at the bottom of voters’ concerns. Whatever the truth about how CRT and gender issues affect voters, that’s not going to stop the GOP from selling voters on the idea of taking more control over education.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
