Political Analysis: "Republicans risk becoming face of delta surge as key GOP governors oppose anti-covid measures"

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Thu, 2021-08-12 09:30 — mike kraft

Republicans risk becoming face of delta surge as key GOP governors oppose anti-covid measures The party is at the vanguard of resistance to public-health mandates aimed stemming the tide of the delta variant, which has caused a new spike in coronavirus cases as the country attempts to reopen schools, restaurants and other businesses. Felicia Sonmez, Hannah Knowles Washington Post

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has banned local governments from implementing mask requirements even as he pleads for emergency medical help in combating a surge in coronavirus cases from the delta variant. In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi L. Noem welcomed hundreds of thousands of revelers to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that last year bore characteristics of a superspreader event for the virus.

And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is waging war on school districts seeking to defy his executive order prohibiting mask mandates for students — while the state sees its rates of hospitalization from covid surge past the worst levels of 2020.

The three Republican governors — all frequently mentioned as potential presidential candidates in 2024 — are at the vanguard of GOP resistance to public-health mandates aimed at stemming the tide of the delta variant, which has caused a new spike in coronavirus cases as the country attempts to reopen schools, restaurants and other businesses.

They and other national and local GOP officials cast their opposition to such measures as an effort to protect personal choice. But some fear the party is on track to make itself the face of the delta variant — endangering fellow Americans while also risking severe political damage in the long term.

“They’re making a political bet on the lives of the people they serve,” said former Republican National Committee chairman Michael S. Steele, who has been sharply critical of former president Donald Trump and has formed an exploratory committee for a potential 2022 Maryland gubernatorial bid. “The party leadership has gone so far out on this limb that there they stand with a saw in their hand and they’re sawing it off.”

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DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw defended the governor’s actions, calling him “pro-vaccine but anti-mandate.”...

In recent days, however, other Republicans, such as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and pollster Frank Luntz have urged their party’s governors to let schools and localities decide for themselves whether to mandate face masks or vaccines.

“Whenever politicians mess with public health, usually it doesn’t work out well for public health. And ultimately, it doesn’t work out for the politician, because public health suffers, and the American people want public health,” Cassidy, who is also a physician, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” ...

Polling shows a deep partisan divide on the issues of mask use and vaccination, a factor that may help explain some GOP elected officials’ staunch opposition to mandates. ...

ALSO SEE: Republicans take to mask wars as virus surges in red states --AP

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