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Sunshine State News Common Core Poll Bears Bad News for Republican Proponents
April, 2014Allison Nielsen of Sunshine State News reported on a new poll commissioned by her organization on Common Core. It contains an important warning for politicians that support Common Core, especially Republicans.
At first glance, the poll shows that support and opposition to Common Core is evenly divided at 43%:
(Photo Credit: Sunshine State News)
When more detailed arguments for and against are given, opposition increases:
(Photo Credit: Sunshine State News)
This is similar to other polls, even by a proponent public relations firm, showing that support diminishes for Common Core when people get enough information:
(Photo Credit: Power Point presentation by Matt Gandal to American Association of State Colleges and Universities 12/13 (link no longer functional) as referenced by Missouri Education Watchdog)
The most worrisome for Republican establishment politicians that continue to force Common Core on their constituents is this information:
James Lee, president of Voter Survey Service, said while there's no real party divide on Common Core, Republicans seem to be more against the standards than Democrats by a 2:1 margin..."The kind of Republicans that are against this tend to be your more conservative, anti-government Republicans," said Lee. "These are your super voting primary Republicans. Your more mainstream candidates, like Jeb Bush, are more likely [to be in favor of the standards]." Common Core, says Lee, could put a wedge between Republicans..."This is another issue that has the potential to divide the Republican base right down the middle," he told SSN.
This means that 66% of active, engaged, supervoting Republicans oppose Common Core. These are the very people that Governor Scott and Senator Benaquisto need and are unlikely to get given their current actions or lack thereof on Common Core. This also means that support for a Jeb Bush presidential run will likely not be very strong in his home state. Let them be warned.