What Went Down During The 2021 Elections

That’s a really important distinction. We seem to have decided that if we’re talking about culture wars in the setting of schools, we’re putting that in the “education” bucket. But as I’ve mentioned before, education in the traditional sense has historically been a dud of an issue in elections. So, I’m not convinced that there’s been a major shift in voters’ priorities in the last few years, especially since education did so little to move voters during teacher strikes ahead of the 2018 midterms.

I think there’s a whole constellation of education- and culture-related issues, of which CRT is one part. Things like school closures under COVID-19 potentially also matter a lot to voters.

It’s been predicted that Republicans next year will mirror Youngkin’s strategy of tapping into conservative, suburban parents’ fears about critical race theory and what they’re taught in schools. But if race becomes a major wedge issue, that could be dangerous for Democrats: Some polling already suggests that Biden’s approval rating is slipping among voters of color (who tend to lean Democratic) and if they’re not motivated to vote, while white suburban parents are … I don’t see how Democrats come back from that.