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Poll: Republican Party More Popular Than Ever

It’s Wednesday, January 19th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) Republican Party More Popular Than Ever

The Topline: More Americans now identify as Republican than at any point in the last 30 years.

Drew Angerer/Staff/Getty Images

The Numbers

According to Gallup Polling, 47% of Americans say they consider themselves Republican, compared to 42% Democrat. The last time Republicans held a five-point advantage in this survey, the Gulf War had just ended. 

At the beginning of 2021, Democrats led in this poll 49-40, which was their largest lead in over a decade, meaning this is a 14-point swing in just 12 months.

Potential Reasons 

Typically, the polling success of a party can be tied to the popularity of the President in power.  In this case, there appears to be a correlation, as President Biden was around 55% approval this time last year, but he sank to 47% in August, and is now in the high 30’s and low 40’s in most polls. 

However, pollsters point to the general unpopularity of other Democrat leaders, such as Vice President Harris, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as another reason for the drop in Democrat popularity. 

Democratic positions on Critical Race Theory, “defunding the police,” and immigration have also become deeply unpopular with the majority of Americans, including with Independents.

Historically, the party in power has declined in popularity after a year or two, but this is an unprecedented shift. 

COVID and inflation have been at the top of many Americans’ minds, which are two areas where Democrats continue to struggle in polling.

Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

2) Companies Hire Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Experts

The Topline: A new study released Tuesday on corporate hiring practices revealed that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) positions are now the second fastest-growing job titles in the U.S., behind only vaccination specialists.

DEI

Increasingly, companies have started turning to specialized diversity consultants, many of whom charge hefty fees. 

Following activist demands in the wake of the summer protests and riots of 2020 – and the establishment media’s amplifying of the importance of corporate activism – many companies felt pressure to show they were advancing the interests of groups like Black Lives Matter.

Risks

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was getting bad press related to a perceived lack of diversity at the Golden Globes, so the organization hired several outside DEI consulting experts. When it didn’t implement the recommended changes quickly enough, the consultants cut ties with the HFPA and talked badly about the organization to the press.

Rollout

With the rise of in-house DEI executives, there are also more concrete policies being implemented. Companies are openly looking at metrics and numbers in their workforce to make sure they have a certain number of minority and female staff.

ABC, for example, announced that it has put a plan in place to ensure all of its writers rooms are 40% black, indigenous, and people of color by May 2022.

In these cases, DEI executives will sometimes contract with hiring platforms that specialize in offering only candidates of color for open positions.

Legal Point: A former entertainment lawyer who is now general counsel at a multi-billion dollar tech firm told The Daily Wire he thinks this kind of activity is going to cause corporate America some problems in the near future. He said he doesn’t think an overtly race-based quota in hiring is constitutional, and there will be unlawful discrimination and termination suits coming. 

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg/Contributor via Getty Images

3) Virginia Governor Youngkin’s First Week

The Topline: This past November, in a highly anticipated election, Republican Glenn Youngkin beat Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe to become the new governor of Virginia. Youngkin was sworn into office over the weekend and he’s already having a major impact.

Quote Of The Day: “As we battle COVID, it’s parents that should decide the health measures taken for their children. That’s why I signed an executive order that allows parents to opt out of mask mandates in schools. This is a matter of individual liberty.”

– Governor Glenn Youngking (R-VA)

First Actions

On his first day, Youngkin issued several executive orders, including an end to Critical Race Theory in public education, an order to combat human trafficking, and another to request an investigation into wrongdoing in Loudoun County related to the sexual assault of a young girl in the girl’s bathroom at school. 

He’s also pushing his team to get tough on crime. His new attorney general Jason Miyares fired 30 employees and started an investigation into the parole board. 

In possibly his most controversial executive order, he moved to allow parents to decide whether or not to mask their kids at school. 

Pushback

Arlington Public Schools — a district in northern Virginia – put out a statement shortly after saying they “will continue to require all staff and students to wear masks inside on school grounds and on buses, as part of our layered approach to safety.”

EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty Images

Other Stories We’re Tracking

Former Mayor de Blasio

Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that he will not be running for governor. The former Mayor of New York City said he is “going to devote every fiber of my being to fighting inequality in the state of New York.”

Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke on Monday about the future of COVID-19, saying we’re only in the first phase of “five phases of the pandemic.” He also said we’ve only eradicated one infectious disease – smallpox – and that’s “not going to happen with this virus.” 

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