Republicans are taking advantage of the intense debate over coronavirus vaccination passports as part of their strategy to regain control of Congress in 2022.
In interviews and conversations with The Hill, GOP strategists and agents acknowledged the growing eagerness among Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But many also bet that the emerging debates over so-called vaccine passports will help them play with voters ’fears about privacy violence and government violence.
The idea of vaccine passports has gained more and more attention in recent weeks, as eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines has expanded rapidly and Americans are beginning to see reflections of post-pandemic normalcy in the world. ‘horizon. The White House has indicated that it will publish basic guidelines for these programs, although it has also said it has no plans to create a centralized federal requirement.
However, some of the country’s leading conservatives have begun to join the emerging possibility of passports or vaccine certificates, seeing proposals as an extension of their campaign to rally the Republican Party base in opposition to restrictions related to the coronavirus as blocking commands and mask commands.
“He’s a political winner,” said Ford O’Connell, a Florida-based Republican strategist. “They see it as a total assault on personal liberties and the Constitution, but it’s also about protecting the average, ordinary Floridian who wants to live his usual day-to-day life.”
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis, parts of Florida County, evacuated amid fears of the collapse of the wastewater reservoir. More GOP-led states risk business reaction like Georgia’s Overnight Health Care: CDC says fully vaccinated people can travel safely Biden laments those acting as if COVID-19 is fighting | Will vaccine passports be the biggest number in the 2022 campaign? MONTH he is one of the Republicans who have come out early against the proposals. He criticized the idea of vaccine passports at a press conference on Monday, and considered it “unacceptable” for local governments or companies to require vaccination tests for people to “participate in normal society.”
On Friday he signed an executive order banning any future vaccine certificate requirements in Florida and asked the Republican-controlled state legislature to draft a bill to enshrine that policy in law.
Republicans hope their first efforts to define vaccine passports as a symbol of government reach will help counter what Democrats see as their most powerful political weapon in mid-2022: their efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent economic crisis.
Democrats hope a massive $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law last month, along with a comprehensive proposal to review the country’s infrastructure, will help them avoid the typical electoral dispatch that a party of the new president usually sees in the first periods subsequent to his investiture.
Some Republicans compared the vaccine passport offensive to the party’s campaign against the Accordable Care Act (ACA) in the 2010 midterm elections, when the Republican Party successfully rallied voters to oppose health care reforms and government spending under the Obama administration.
That year, Democrats lost 63 seats in the House and, as a result, a majority in the lower house.
“It’s not a COVID discussion for Republicans. It is a discussion about freedom. It’s a discussion about the role of government, “said a GOP strategist.” Would you rather have a debate on COVID next year? No, but we want to have this discussion about freedom. “
Republicans must get five seats in the House and only one in the Senate next year to regain their majorities in both houses, a goal that is well within the reach of the Republican Party.
But Republicans are also advocating for more Senate seats next year than Democrats, including several open seats in perennial battlefield states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina. They expect voters to react President Biden
Joe Biden Lawyers say solving the border crisis is the job of Biden Trump calls for Republicans to boycott companies amid controversy over White House voting law: Republican Party has “fought to articulate a reason” to oppose -se in the MORE infrastructure plan and the agenda of the Democrats in Congress will be enough to return them to the majority.
Not all Republican Party members are confident that opposition to vaccine passports will be a winning issue for them.
“It’s red meat for the base, of course, but that doesn’t help us recover half,” a veteran GOP campaign assistant told The Hill. “It’s just cultural wars … and it also means talking about COVID instead of the damage Democrats do.”
Surveys show that a growing number of Americans have already received one of the approved coronavirus vaccines or plan to get vaccinated as soon as possible. A Gallup poll released Tuesday found that approximately three out of four Americans are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Only about a quarter of respondents, 26%, said they were unwilling to receive one of three vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In addition, categorically rejecting the notion of passports or vaccine certificates could conflict many Republicans with the business community they have long aligned themselves with.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the powerful trade group that has traditionally supported Republicans, joined several airline trade organizations and unions in a letter to the White House COVID-19 recovery coordinator. Jeff Zients
Jeff ZientsArkansas ends mask mandate, but extends vaccine eligibility to all adults Overnight Health Care: More Doses of Johnson & Johnson Will Arrive Next Week | This is where schools are back in session WHO is asking rich countries to give 10M doses of vaccine to the White House: 11M doses of Johnson & Johnson will arrive next week MORE last month, he urged the Biden administration to “rapidly develop uniform and specific federal guidelines for temporary health credentials COVID-19 (CHC) covering testing and vaccines.”
His. Mike Lee
Michael (Mike) Shumway, LeeGeorgia County, says eliminating All-Star game will cost tourism 0M GOP senators push for end of MLB Hillicon Valley antitrust state: Supreme Court rules text alerts Facebook are not similar to calls Republicans Press Google, Apple, Amazon To Remove Talk | The Texas Senate is blocking social media platforms to ban users based on the MORE policy (R-Utah) on Friday suggested an issue of intervention when it comes to vaccine passports, and said Friday in an interview on the podcast “Utah Politics” that private companies should have the option to use this type, while insisting that the government stay away from the problem.
“I think vaccines are good and I think once people get a vaccine, they have the ability to present credentials to private owners who might decide they want their customers to be vaccinated,” Lee said.
“You don’t want us to ever get to a position where our own government plays any role in the way human beings move within our borders,” he added. “This is something that the American people, regardless of their political leanings, do not want.”
Meanwhile, some Republicans are taking a wait-and-see approach to the vaccine passport argument. In particular, they are waiting to see if they were earlier President Trump
Donald Trump Lawyers say resolving the border crisis is Biden’s job, Trump calls on Republicans to boycott companies amid controversy over voting law Georgia County says elimination of All-Star game will cost tourism 0M MORE weighs in on the issue.
“The X factor of all this, if it becomes the big problem for Republicans, is what DJT says about it,” a former Trump campaign official said, referring to the former president’s initials. “Candidates will be looking for signals, because he remains the most important person in this party.”