Americans' single biggest priority when it comes to children is keeping them safe from gun violence and mass shootings in schools and other public places.
The latest Navigator Research survey found that given seven options, a 53% majority of voters chose children's safety from gun violence as their top concern, including 64% of Democrats, 57% of independents, 51% of parents, and 40% of Republicans.
Overall, voters' second-biggest priority at 51% was making sure children learn the things they need to know to be successful in school and life. That was a major concern for Republicans at 59% and independents at 50%, while 43% of Democrats and 42% of parents also considered it a top priority.
Republicans, however, were pretty much on an island with their second biggest concern: preventing kids from being exposed to woke ideas about race and gender in school. While 54% of GOP voters prioritized the issue, just 13% of Democrats, 22% of independents, and a third of parents did.
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Navigator also tested a range of Democratic proposals regarding families and kids against proposals that Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have championed. Unsurprisingly, many of the Democratic proposals, such as expanding universal pre-K and creating more affordable child care, polled incredibly well, just as they did when President Joe Biden and Democrats were attempting to codify them into law last Congress.
But most of the GOP initiatives totally bombed in the polling with anyone who isn't a Republican or a right-wing culture warrior.
Banning the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, for example, is supported by 43% of voters (28% strongly, 15% somewhat), including 70% of Republicans, 33% of independents, and 22% of Democrats.
Passing legislation banning transgender-focused health care options for young Americans also gets top billing among Republicans at 67% support. But just 21% of Democrats and 32% of independents support it.
But the two most unpopular proposals by far were banning high school classes like AP African American history (68% opposed, 47 points underwater), and banning books that some parents find to have questionable content (57% opposed, 25 points underwater).
Republican book bans and efforts to wipe out teaching about subjects like Black history are going to be dead weight in any general election.
What's presently playing out in Florida regarding book bans, for instance, is absolutely dystopian, as one teacher characterized it. So much so, in fact, that DeSantis issued a very defensive press release this week billed as "Exposing the Book Ban Hoax"—an effort to push back on a gusher of negative press on his initiatives.
It's almost as if DeSantis hadn't thought through how his war on books and education would play to the broader public because he so desperately needs the support of the 50% of Republicans who support banning books that “some parents” find questionable, along with that of the 33% of Republicans who support banning AP African American history.
Good luck in the primary, governor. See you in the general if you make it.
