The mood on COVID-19 has shifted in recent months, new polling shows.
According to Axios, 73% of people now view COVID-19 as “a manageable problem.” We are no longer trapped in the spring of 2020, when COVID reached our shores and consumed the nation’s attention. We have made significant progress in fighting this virus, in large part thanks to President Donald Trump’s historic “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine development program. Large majorities now feel it’s time to treat the novel coronavirus as a manageable part of everyday life.
But Democrats are committed to reinstating mask mandates and are leaving the door open to future lockdowns, swimming in the opposite direction from the science and the nation’s patience. In some places, they are reinstating ridiculous mask mandates, even as the citizens they represent have moved on from the crisis long ago. Philadelphia just put its mask mandate back in place, even though Pennsylvania is looking at some of its lowest case levels since the pandemic began and 84% of Pennsylvanians are vaccinated.
Democrats in Philadelphia claim that this is in response to a rise in cases caused by an omicron variant of COVID-19, but omicron is thankfully the least severe COVID variant yet. Democrats pushing for more masks aren’t following science — they are engaging in fearmongering for political gain, and they should be called out for it.
We’ve all seen it: Every few months, media outlets hear about an ominous new variant of COVID and lose all perspective on how far we’ve come against the virus. Their goal is higher ratings instead of logical coverage. First it was delta, then it was omicron. Now, we’re seeing particularly dramatic reports of a so-called “Frankenstein variant.” Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci said this week that reverting to mass masking is a distinct possibility. The Biden administration has also tried to extend and may try to restore mask mandates for federal travel (although he has run into problems in court). Don’t forget that many Democratic-run cities, such as New York City, are still forcing toddlers to mask.
Philadelphia may be just the first city, but don’t be surprised if others follow. Throughout this pandemic, Democrats have shown an eager and chilling willingness to enact totalitarian policies blindly, with little consideration of the fallout. Democratic-led lockdowns killed small businesses nationwide, with blue states hit the hardest. Months of school closures and forced masking for children ruined childhoods and drove down test scores. And the full impact of those mistaken policies won’t be entirely understood until the COVID generation reaches their teenage and adult years. Meanwhile, recent studies prove that red states that didn’t turn panic into long-term lockdowns did overwhelmingly better on COVID than blue states that subjected their entire populations to virtual home confinement.
Democrats used COVID for political gain in the 2020 election, and we can’t let that play out again. By suffocating the economy, disrupting our social lives, and raising doubts about our ability to vote in person due to COVID risks, the Left created an environment of maximum fear and confusion. Democrats in key swing states also deliberately used COVID as a pretext to force through their long-desired attacks on election integrity. That gave us 24-hour drive-through voting in Texas, unattended ballots flooding streets in Nevada, and ballot-harvesting practices in Wisconsin that took advantage of elderly voters (and may well lead to criminal charges). Thankfully, Republican legislators are pushing smart election integrity laws to make sure our upcoming elections are free, fair, and transparent.
The Left’s goal is to remake America according to their socialist vision. They went to the mat to keep schools closed and pushed expensive electric vehicles on people who can’t afford President Joe Biden’s gas price hike. They paid people not to work, and they attempted a federal takeover of local elections. They know that these policies are out of the mainstream, so they used the window of chaos to force their vision of society on voters. It’s dishonest and disgraceful.
Keep a close eye on Democratic-run cities in the coming weeks as they tease a return to their 2020 COVID playbook. Left-wing leaders such as Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have shown they will violate their own mask mandates, but they won’t be as forgiving toward you and your neighbors.
Democrats want another “variant election” dominated by COVID headlines. Voters already see right through it.
Ronna McDaniel is the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
