This week, Democratic governors across the country have started to change their tune on mask mandates. States that were very much all-in on masks still suddenly decided to drop the mandates.
This comes as the Biden administration and its health agencies continue to insist that we aren’t past the point of needing masks yet. After all, the science has been fairly clear for a while. The Democrats have been holding on to the masking requirements out of fear of the virus and fear that it will continue to hurt them if they didn’t do enough to prevent the virus from spreading.
Something, though, has changed those governors’ minds, and I am not entirely sure that it’s just following the science. Erick Erickson pointed out something on Twitter that I think explains, in part, what is going on:
Consider that Joe Biden’s average disapproval is now at 54 percent. Rassmussen, the most recent poll we have, has him at 56 percent. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Biden’s job performance on virtually every issue.
We’re getting ready for a summer of pain and a winter of death for the Democratic Party. The sudden move to unmask the states is not going to be enough. They still have to contend with parents who are furious at their kids missing school due to COVID, the mitigation efforts in the schools that were open, and what’s happening in the classrooms (critical race theory and otherwise).
What’s more, the economy is still struggling despite a positive jobs report last week. Inflation hit 7.5 percent. Prices across the country are still high, from energy to the grocery store.
In Virginia, Democrats were certain that tying things to Donald Trump and the January 6 riot would motivate their voters. Their polling showed that people wanted Congress to get to the bottom of it.
It did not motivate voters. People were more concerned about education and the economy. You’ll notice, by the way, that even the media isn’t focusing on January 6 all that much. Their ratings on the one-year anniversary were abysmal. Quietly, they appear to have realized that the reason the polling showed that people wanted Congress to get to the bottom of it was so everyone would stop talking about it and move on.
But voters can sense cynical political maneuvers, and it is likely they’ll see that a bunch of governors and officials who have been caught maskless in public settings suddenly declaring masks are required is a purely political one.
The governors may be following the science, but it appears to be political science, not medical science.