DEMOCRATS ADMIT A CULTURE WAR PROBLEM

Democrats are starting to fight back against the bludgeoning they’ve taken since the Republicans seized on socially charged issues to help win this fall’s midterms.

Why it matters: Recent research has shown the barrage of “culture war” messaging — on everything from critical race theory to bashing LGBTQ communities — is working, and Democrats now realize they can’t ignore it any longer. They want to make 2022 a referendum on MAGA nation and its agenda.

• President Biden himself got more aggressive while traveling to Ohio last Wednesday to honor 2022’s Teacher of the Year: a history instructor who teaches courses about oppression and Black history.
• “Today, there are too many politicians trying to score political points trying to ban books — even math books. I mean, did you ever think … that when you’d be teaching, you’d be worrying about book burnings and banning books? All because it doesn’t fit somebody’s political agenda,” the president said.
• “We ought to stop making them a target of the culture wars.”

The American Federation of Teachers — along with 214 other parent groups, student groups, and unions — is also placing ads in more than a dozen newspapers, including the New York Times, across 13 key states this week to coincide with Teacher Appreciation Week, Axios has learned.

• “We’re saying we are grateful, your work matters and you need support to help our kids recover — not attacks from political extremists who make your job harder,” AFT president Randi Weingarten told Axios.
• Fox News has talked about what’s being taught in schools over 1,000 times since January 2021, per the Washington Post.

What they’re saying: Democrats have often shied away from the emotional appeal of such issues — even with abortion rights — frequently dismissing Republican attacks as unworthy of a response.

No longer.

• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told Axios: “There’s a lot of us that are extremely frustrated with Republicans for doing this but also want our colleagues to be comfortable enough to stand up and defend our values rather than running to some other message or running away from it.”
• “I think that’s starting to happen,” said Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
• Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said: “It is very clear that the other side is going to continue to sort of fear-monger as a way to drum up support. For some [voters] that works, but I think pushing back works too.”

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