Global Strategy Group is excited to share a new issue of The Melting Pot: GSG’s Ongoing Look at Racial Politics in America. This latest report looks at Defunding the Police and Critical Race Theory (CRT) – two racially charged political issues the GOP has tried to weaponize and use against Democrats.
As we saw this year in elections across the country, schools and education were key wedge issues that motivated white voters to pull the lever for Republican candidates. Our new poll explores what Democrats can say to lower the temperature heading into 2022.
Key Insights:
- “Defund the Police” is poorly defined and requires rebranding, as seen in the recently rejected Minneapolis ballot initiative for police reform.
- The negative framing of CRT among white Republicans in battleground states (67% unfavorable/61% very unfavorable) unified Republicans in 2021 and has the potential to splinter the Democratic base nationally in 2022.
- Stripping away CRT’s inflammatory term and applying an alternate frame reveals a more egalitarian and inclusive reality, with 48% of white Republican battleground voters in support of curriculum diversification.
- CRT counter-messaging that focuses on allowing teachers to have the freedom to teach the honest and complete facts about historical events without being censored by politicians can lower the temperature on the issue.
