Republicans have no campaign issues in this year’s election cycle. They have a succession of bogus moral panics, nearly all of which rapidly wear out, like Mr. Potato Head or woke M&Ms. CRT, DEI, “wokism”, and Global Warming denial have more staying power, but it is notable that every one of them is eroding at historically unprecedented rates. For example, there was a rash of school board elections of book-banning troglodytes, which was (predictably) followed by anti-book-banners throwing them out. Climate denial has had to retreat from calling it a hoax to claiming that we can’t AFFORD cleaner and cheaper energy. And so on.
Only basic racism, misogyny, homophobia, guns, and Christian Nationalism have real staying power, but they have become solid minority opinions in the last few decades, and there is more and more about them that cannot be said out loud in the national political conversation. We have moved on from “sodomy” and marriage equality, and we are now stuck for a while with trans-bashing and laws against drag queens. But it turns out that the groomers and rapists are all their priests, pastors, police, and politicians. We have begun to realize that the constantly demonized immigrants are in fact essential workers deserving of real human rights. Even Blacks have begun to make progress in jobs, basic wealth, public respect, and legal rights of many kinds, most consequentially voting rights.
Give us the ballot and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights…
MLK, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom gathering at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 1957.
As to women’s rights, Helen Reddy - I Am Woman (Official 4K Video)