an overture to parents."Republicans believe that parents matter. It was true before the pandemic and has never been more important to say out loud: Parents matter."Veteran Republican strategist Liesl Hickey says mask mandates are just one part of why angry parents will be a critical voting bloc in what she believes will be a"red tsunami" come November.
Lifelong Democrat Justin Spiro doesn't have kids but he works with them as a social worker at a New York City high school. He says the mask mandate took a toll on his students. He was furious when Democrats in the New York state Senate recently blocked a Republican bill to roll it back. He has felt alienated from the party over it.
"We as Democrats should not be, out of some sense of correctness, falling in love with mandates when they aren't necessary," he said."We should get rid of them as quickly as we responsibly can."With the pandemic entering it's third year, parents like Debbie are exhausted by it all. She's a mom of two and lives in suburban Seattle. She asked NPR not to use her last name so she could speak candidly about her political views.