At this point in time, it is widely known that if left to direct democracy, the GOP would never win the presidency again. Their core ideology just isn’t as popular (nor should it be) as what the Democrats offer. Because of this Republicans have taken to making it harder to vote, double down on gerrymandering, and increasing voter turnout of their base.

 Today, I would like to take a little bit of time and discuss how Republicans are getting their base politically engaged, and how this could translate to a GOP blowout in the 2022 midterms. They are keying in on particular issues to drive voter engagement. Issues such as COVID-19 vaccines, mask mandates, and critical race theory.

COVID-19 Vaccines

As I discussed previously, a large segment of the US population just refuses to get vaccinated. When the vaccines were initially being rolled out, there was a small (but very vocal) group of people who stated they would never get vaccinated. At the time, not many people paid much attention to them. Most people just assumed that once the vaccines were widely available, everyone would go ahead and get vaccinated to protect themselves, their family, and their community. As heartbreaking as it is, we were terribly wrong.

As of yesterday (9-9-2021) only ~54% of the US population is fully vaccinated. Here in SC, it’s only 44%. The Pfizer vaccine was approved for individuals 16 and over on December 10, 2020. It’s now August 10, 2021 and only just over half the US population is fully vaccinated. It is really pathetic.

 Tying this back to the GOP increasing voter turnout, what you will see being perpetrated by right wing media entities and politicians is absolute fearmongering regarding vaccines.

Take this clip of Marjorie Taylor Greene for example. In it, she stokes her supporters’ vaccine hesitancy while also making a vague encouragement of violence. Instances such as this cannot be taken lightly. MTG is bringing in TONS of money through individual donations. Controversial statements like the clip above are what drives her political base. What we are witnessing is that finally, the GOP voter base is being exposed for what they are. And in my opinion, it’s just sheer lunacy.

Tucker Carlson routinely has the highest TV ratings for cable news. He CONSTANTLY promotes vaccine skepticism and hesitancy. Whether his claims are legitimate or not is irrelevant for his strategy. All he and others like him are trying to do is create a scenario in which people feel so strongly toward something that they are willed to enact upon it. The more people are actively engaged politically, the more you can rely on them to vote.

Critical Race Theory

In the clip above, Marco Rubio attributes critical race theory to “Cultural Marxism”. Given the long history of anticommunist rhetoric and propaganda in the United States, this terminology is sure to drive engagement. Even though Rubio has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about, comments such as these will drive his supporters to protest their local schools from indoctrinating their children with this “Social Marxism”.

Well, here’s Tucker again riling up his viewers. In this clip he’s saying that Critical Race Theory is so dangerous that we need to put cameras in all classrooms so that we can make sure teachers aren’t spreading this to our kids. The important thing to keep in mind is that whether these are legitimate concerns or not isn’t relevant to the GOP. Getting their voter base to care about something enough to go out and vote is their only goal.

Mask Mandates

What you just witnessed is a direct result of the GOP’s spewing of misinformation and outrage. A school board member in Dorchester County, SC openly states that it’s not her job to prevent children from dying of COVID-19.

In regard to schools, this absurd line of thought (or lack thereof) has manifested into sheer outrage over schools enforcing mask mandates. Here in my local school district, they have refused to enact a mask mandate even though they have multiple schools that fall under a city enforced mandate. The school board has been taken over by these pro child endangerment lunatics.

For reference, this is the same school district that forced out the previous superintendent, Dr. Christina Melton. And the replacement, Akil Ross, seems to fit their ideology. He’s quoted at a meeting as saying, “You can’t social distance a social being.”

Again, all of this nonsense that’s being perpetrated by the GOP and right wing media is being done so for the sole purpose of getting their voting bloc engaged. If you’ve wondered at all why it seems that none of the high-profile media figures or politicians seem to be getting severely sick or dying from COVID even though they sow so much distrust – it’s because what they’re doing is strictly performative.

That being said, what they’re doing has the potential to carry them through to a 2022 sweep across the nation. Unless something changes, Democrats are going to seriously up their game in voter turnout efforts. As of right now, there’s nowhere near the level of engagement on the left.

Lastly, I’d like to leave you with a true gem. Andre Antunes has a YouTube channel where he adds his own Metal soundtrack to videos of people doing various things (pig calling, yodeling, throwing temper tamtrums, etc.). The one below is another example of how the GOP has warped their voters. Enjoy!