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Poll: Most Americans Support Teachers Unions Despite Right-Wing Attacks

Poll: Most Americans Support Teachers Unions Despite Right-Wing Attacks

New polling data shows most Americans have favorable views toward teachers’ unions.

According to a survey of 1,000 registered voters released by Navigator Research on August 30, U.S. voters back teachers’ unions by a 30 percent margin, with 55 percent indicating support for the unions and just 25 percent indicating negative attitudes toward them.

The only group the poll showed to view teachers’ unions negatively was Republicans who identify as being “very conservative,” with only 22 percent of that group supporting the unions, compared to 62 percent who said they view them unfavorably.

Meanwhile, the polling data showed 45 percent of both independent voters and Republicans who do not identify as being “very conservative” as having favorable views toward teachers’ unions, with 34 percent and 23 percent indicating unfavorable views, respectively. Some 74 percent of Democrats back teachers’ unions, with just nine percent viewing them negatively.

The survey, which covered voters’ priorities toward education, was conducted online between Augiust 17 and August 21.

Republican political candidates continue to staunchly oppose teachers’ unions.

On the Republican presidential primary debate stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called for an end to unions’ influence.

“The only way we change education in this nation is to break the backs of the teachers’ unions,” Scott said. “They are standing in the doorhouse of our kids, locking them in failing schools, and locking them out of the greatest future they can have.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also called teachers’ unions “the biggest threat to our country.”

Republican presidential candidates aren’t the only ones still taking shots at teachers’ unions.

Dave McCormick, who’s running to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat for Pennsylvania currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr., said in March that he would like to “break the back of our teachers’ unions.” In those remarks, McCormick also accused teachers of introducing “sexualization” in elementary schools.

The Navigator Research poll also shows voters are more concerned about gun violence in schools and getting kids the education they need to be successful than they are about accusations that teachers are instructing students on gender and sexuality.

More than half of voters surveyed, or 58 percent, said keeping kids “safe from gun violence and mass shootings in schools and other public places” is an issue to focus on, compared to 28 percent who expressed concern about students “being exposed to woke ideas about race and gender in school.”.

Another recent poll released by the National Education Association similarly showed that voters are much more worried about school shootings and teacher pay than they are about social justice issues being taught in schools.

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

Tim Scott

Is Bachelor Tim Scott Gay? Big Republican Donors Want To Know

In their desperate quest to find a 2024 alternative to former President Donald Trump, GOP donors have stumbled upon an elephant in the room: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is single.

That fact, long known among casual political observers, has suddenly sparked “curiosity” and a round of pearl-clutching among the GOP's well-heeled donors, some of whom spoke to Axiosanonymously given the "sensitivity of the issue." As Axios notes, the country has not put a bachelor in the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1884.

Scott, a Bible-thumper with a sunny disposition and an inspirational personal story, has some upsides in Iowa, where the evangelical vote can ignite a GOP candidacy. But any legitimate Trump alternative also has to persuade donors they can go the distance against a man who will say basically anything to tear down a legitimate threat to his frontrunner status. Scott hasn't reached that point yet, but it's not hard to imagine Trump taking a swipe at Solo Scott.

Never been married, folks, at 57, Trump might say. I don't know, I don't know. Something weird going on there.

The not-so-subtle implication would be that Scott is gay—gasp!—which is exactly what Republican donors are freaking out about. Axios writes:

Top GOP donors and their allies privately are pushing Sen. Tim Scott's team for more detail about his bachelor status before deciding how much to support him in the presidential campaign, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

It's perfectly on brand for a party weirdly obsessed with what people do in their bedrooms and bathrooms.

Scott doesn't often bring up the topic of his own accord, but he did address it withAxios reporter Sophia Cai in a May interview. After Cai dared to broach the subject, Scott said he did have a girlfriend but didn't disclose her name and then remarked that someone's marital status has no bearing on their ability to be president.

"The fact that half of America's adult population is single for the first time, to suggest that somehow being married or not married is going to be the determining factor of whether you're a good president or not—it sounds like we're living in 1963 and not 2023," Scott said. Amen, brother. Just don't tell the Republicans you're unhitched.

In fact, Scott suggested, not being married was a real plus for a position so demanding. "I probably have more time, more energy, and more latitude to do the job," Scott said. "My girlfriend wants to see me when I come home, but at the end of the day, the truth is that I am so thankful to be who I am, where I am." Sounds like an unbreakable bond.

One source told Axios some donors aren't super concerned about it, observing, "I'm surprised it doesn't come up more."

Oh, it will. If Scott gets serious traction, it will.

But as of right now, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Scott's fellow South Carolinian and 2024 rival, upstaged him at last week's debate. At the same time, Scott has the advantage of being boosted by billionaire backer Larry Ellison, who has showered a pro-Scott super PAC with tens of millions of dollars.

Regardless, this should get interesting. Scott reportedly plans to start addressing the issue of his bachelordom more in the weeks ahead. What could go wrong?

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Ron DeSantis

As DeSantis Feuds With Black Republicans, His Campaign 'Reboot' Sputters

Finding its candidate dropping in the polls and burning through money at a fast clip, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign announced this week that it was going to undergo a reboot in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” Generra Peck, DeSantis’ campaign manager, said in a statement to the Associated Press on July 25. “DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”

Yet just a few days later, DeSantis’ attempted reboot is floundering as DeSantis and his team continue to earn negative press.

On Tuesday, the campaign announced that it laid off more than three dozen staffers in an effort to stop hemorrhaging the cash it needs to make it through the long slog of the GOP primary.

Among the staffers that were let go was Nate Hochman, a DeSantis speechwriter who made a pro-DeSantis video that included a symbol often used by Nazis and white supremacists.

That same day, four vehicles in DeSantis’ motorcade were involved in a car accident while traveling to a fundraiser in Tennessee. DeSantis was not injured and made it to the planned event, the Associated Press reported.

DeSantis’ troubles this week didn’t end there.

On Wednesday, a group of DeSantis staffers got into a feud with Rep. Byron Donalds, the lone Black Republican in the Florida congressional delegation.

Donalds tepidly criticized the new Black history curriculum in the state, which will instruct students about “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

“The new African-American standards in FL are good, robust, & accurate,” Donalds tweeted on July 26. “That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn’t the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this.”

Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ rapid response director, responded to Donalds by tweeting, “Did Kamala Harris write this tweet?”

DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern accused Donalds of “laundering a lie for the White House.”

Donalds wasn’t the only Black Republican to criticize Florida’s Black history curriculum.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a campaign event in Iowa “there is no silver lining” in slavery.

“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Scott said, according to NBC News. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that. People have bad days. Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”

Vice President Kamala Harris had made a similar criticism to Donalds, saying at the annual national convention of the historically Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta, “In the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”

DeSantis, for his part, has struggled in the polls since officially launching his campaign in May.

When his candidacy was only rumored in the beginning of 2023, polls showed him neck and neck with former President Donald Trump. DeSantis had reached 40.3 percent in the FiveThirtyEightpolling average in early January, just two points behind Trump.

Yet now, even after Trump has been indicted multiple times, DeSantis has plummeted to just 15.5 percent in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average, while Trump stands at 52.4 percent as of July 27.

“DeSantis’ path was always ‘Trump, but more electable and with the ability to get things done,’” Sean Trende, an elections analyst with RealClearPolitics, tweeted. “But for some reason DeSantis has opted for ‘Trump, but somehow crazier.’”

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

Miguel Cardona

Republicans Who Got Pandemic Debt Relief Now Demand Students Repay Loans

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Joe Biden's student loan debt relief plan Friday, Secretary of Education Miguel Cordona strongly criticized the hypocrisy of the Republican party's celebration of the decision.

Several GOP leaders publicly praised the court's decision to reject the plan that would have eliminated up to $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers, including former Vice President Mike Pence.

According to CNBC, the 2024 GOP candidate said, "I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the justices that ensured today's welcomed decision," while his presidential race opponent, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), called Biden's plan "illegal and immoral."

During the White House press conference following the court's decision, Cardona said, "Today, the court substituted itself for congress. It’s outrageous to me that Republicans in Congress and state offices fought so hard against a program that would have helped millions of their own constituents.They had no problem handing trillion dollar tax cuts to big corporations and the super-wealthy, and many had no problems accepting millions of dollars in forgiven pandemic loans.”

He continued, "Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma had more than $1.4 million in pandemic loans forgiven. He represents 489,000 eligible borrowers that were turned down today. Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky had more than $4.4 million forgiven. He represents more than 90,000 eligible borrowers that were turned down today. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia had more than $180,000 forgiven. She represents more than 91,800 borrowers who were turned down today."

Watch Mediaite's video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.