(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: The working class divide through a political lens [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-02-08 x I'm not sure anyone expected Biden to so quickly and ably put Republicans on the ropes and then just keep swinging, all with a smile on his face. This is a very good speech and a very good look for the President. — David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) February 8, 2023 Trip Gabriel/NY Times: Education Issues Vault to Top of the G.O.P.’s Presidential Race Donald Trump and possible rivals, like Gov. Ron DeSantis, are making appeals to conservative voters on race and gender issues, but such messages had a mixed record in November’s midterm elections. With a presidential primary starting to stir, Republicans are returning with force to the education debates that mobilized their staunchest voters during the pandemic and set off a wave of conservative activism around how schools teach about racism in American history and tolerate gender fluidity. The messaging casts Republicans as defenders of parents who feel that schools have run amok with “wokeness.” Its loudest champion has been Gov. Ron DeSantis, who last week scored an apparent victory attacking the College Board’s curriculum on African American studies. Former President Donald J. Trump has sought to catch up with even hotter language, recently threatening “severe consequences” for educators who “suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body. x A confident President seizing momentum and politely boxing in Republicans. An impressive political moment. — David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) February 8, 2023 Adam Mahoney/Capital B: Black Americans are moving to Phoenix in historic numbers. Few are finding a better life. Phoenix is America’s fastest-growing large city, driven in large part by an influx of new Black residents. But building a sustainable community there is a challenge. Those moving to Phoenix are a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of Black Americans who have left the coasts and the Midwest in search of better jobs and safer communities. This isn’t the first time that such a significant number have been on the move: Between the early 1900s to the mid-1970s, roughly 6 million Black people left the South and spread across the country in what historians call “The Great Migration.” In recent years, Black America is in the midst of another great migration — one in which many are reversing the previous trend and returning to the South, drawn by the lower cost of living and a larger Black community. But historic numbers are also moving to the West: Las Vegas and Phoenix have the fastest-growing Black populations outside of the Gulf Coast region. But Black residents in Phoenix face a distinctive set of challenges that impact their ability to build welcoming neighborhoods for their communities. Their experience has been made more difficult by policies that, for more than a century, have encouraged inequities in community investment, favoring predominantly white neighborhoods. And, unlike the previous Great Migration, this trend is rising against an existential threat: climate change. Black Americans are moving for a variety of reasons, but rising temperatures, drought, and erratic weather are already making their new homes less livable. “Everything is changing now, with new residents, growing segregation, the heat. It can be hard to thrive and survive,” said Rashad Thomas, a South Phoenix resident. It’s a reality that both new and longtime Black residents believe they have two ways to address: Either they move again, or else they hunker down and build thriving and climate-resilient neighborhoods, despite all the barriers. x In which Atomwaffen founder and girlfriend are arrested for plotting an attach on Maryland power substations with weapons. (1) https://t.co/LjRZofu0PS — Kathleen Belew (@kathleen_belew) February 6, 2023 Richard L Hasen/Slate: Unfortunately, the Biggest Election Case of the Supreme Court Term Could Be Moot Will a power grab by the new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court—ostensibly to reverse a power grab by the earlier Democratic majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court—deprive conservatives on the United States Supreme Court of a power grab over U.S. elections? Or will it just delay an urgent election ruling to a much worse time—when it could decide the outcome of a major election? The Supreme Court’s potential blockbuster election decision in Moore v. Harper, now expected by late June, could soon be rendered moot by an order that the North Carolina Supreme Court issued on Friday to rehear the underlying case. If Republican state justices in North Carolina moot Moore, it might simply delay an outcome on an issue that should be resolved sooner rather than later. x CNN is reporting Mitt Romney told George Santos "you don't belong here" before tonight's State of the Union. Here is video of that interaction: pic.twitter.com/6cDxpV1NKt — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) February 8, 2023 New America: Understanding the Partisan Divide: How Demographics and Policy Views Shape Party Coalitions Key Takeaways Democratic and Republican districts differ in important ways on demographic variables and policy views. Our winner-take-all system reduces these differences to a binary, hiding the diversity of districts and possible areas of overlap. Republican districts are some of the least ethnically diverse districts. But voters within these districts have diverse policy views, particularly on economic issues. Democratic districts are some of the most ethnically diverse districts. But voters within these districts are mostly in agreement over their views of both social and economic issues. Competitive districts include roughly equal numbers of ethnically diverse and ethnically homogeneous districts. While they lean towards the conservative side on many social and economic issues, voters in competitive districts have a wide mix of policy views. x conservatives prefer a devolution of power to state & local jurisdictions, even if doing so might make it harder to achieve conservative policy aims, whereas liberals prioritize policy aims & support whichever level of government can achieve them https://t.co/lA1PlIvlWy — Matt Grossmann (@MattGrossmann) February 7, 2023 Kirsten Allen/Twitter: As we've seen over the past week there is no shortage of people willing to anonymously or publicly tear down the vice president. So since no one seems to know what she has done or is doing I'll put in all in one place: Let's start with the obvious: Reproductive freedom proved to be the defining issue of the 2022 midterm elections. @VP led the administration's response and took that fight across the nation: How Harris is listening — and speaking — about abortion rights before the midterms Vice President Harris has held more than 20 events on abortion rights since May. She's been traveling the country to listen and speak about what's become a top issue for Democratic voters. More reaction tweets on SOTU: x That was much more antagonistic and feisty than anticipated. — Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) February 8, 2023 x Some of what we saw during that address was a skilled politician in action. He handled the room. He dealt with hecklers. He successfully baited Republicans. He not only successfully gave the address; he also filled the office.#SOTU — Dr. Joanne Freeman (@jbf1755@mastodon.social) (@jbf1755) February 8, 2023 x Can we do another one of these next month? — David Pepper (@DavidPepper) February 8, 2023 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/8/2151674/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-The-working-class-divide-through-a-political-lens Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/