The question came up - why? What's the motivation for the Republicans to suddenly hop on the antivax crazy train? Whose money are they following? What is the specific reason to get their followers riled on this idiotic an issue?
I put it together and felt stupid for not seeing it immediately. It's a drive to kill off the public schools.
All the antivaxxer crap from Rand Paul and his minions in the last couple days has been framed as "freedom" from "government tyranny".
They're not anti-vax themselves, of course. They're just against requiring vaccinations. And no, not even that - they're against the government requiring vaccinations.
And where does the government require vaccinations? Public schools.
And if a private school decided to require vaccinations (as virtually all do)? Not a single Republican would blink at that. Private schools can do whatever they want.
This is a specific attempt to make public schools unsafe.