Pirate's Cove

Remember when all these Democrats were screeching about “everyone’s gonna die!!!!” when Republicans, especially newly elected Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin, were removing all mask mandates and telling lower level government they cannot implement a mask mandate, especially in schools? What changed?

Democrats scramble to reverse course on COVID restrictions ahead of midterms

Democrats across the country are scrambling to reverse course on COVID-19 restrictions as this year’s midterm elections loom.

With the notable exception of the White House, Democrats at every level are signaling their support for returning to normal as polls show Americans are weary of coronavirus restrictions, which Republican states have largely done away with.

According to a recent poll by Monmouth University, 70% of Americans say it’s time for the country to move on from the pandemic, and a decreasing number of Americans support COVID-related mandates. President Biden’s approval ratings on handling COVID, once a strength, are also now underwater, with 43% approving and 53% disapproving, according to the poll.

Biden has chosen to follow the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which still recommends universal masking indoors and in schools.

Except, there’s one thing Biden and most ignore from the CDC:

If you are 2 years or older and are not up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, wear a mask indoors in public.

How often do you hear that one? That there’s no need to wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated? Certainly, the local Raleigh and Wake County mask mandates make zero mention of that. As AARP notes

Nine states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington — require most people to wear masks in indoor public places, whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have similar orders in place.

Connecticut has an indoor mandate that extends only to the unvaccinated. Rhode Island has a hybrid order that requires face-covering for all in large venues but gives smaller businesses leeway based on patrons’ vaccination status.

Remember, Biden’s EO requires masks in all federal buildings regardless of vaccination status. Which many of the Elites blow off. Back to original article

But with the midterms ahead, many Democrats who once led the way in issuing lockdown orders and mandates over the course of the pandemic are easing restrictions in their states in defiance of the administration.

Numerous blue state governors this week have announced that they are rolling back coronavirus restrictions, and prominent congressional Democrats have also signaled their support for returning to normal.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that her state will end its COVID-19 mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings but will keep it for schools. Illinois announced the same.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said Wednesday his state will end its indoor vaccine-or-mask requirement this week, followed by the school mask mandate in March. Massachusetts, which is generally considered a blue state but has a centrist Republican governor, will end its school mask mandate at the end of the month.

Earlier this week, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware all disclosed plans to join states that have lifted or never had mask requirements for their schools.

California will like lift those mandates for those who are not vaccinated. The science has not changed, and the infection rates are still well above where they were prior to Omicron when these Democrats were hardcore maskers. So, yeah, they’re doing it for politics.

Funny how Democrats across the country are getting rid of mask mandates all at once.

It's like there's an election coming soon.

— Rep. Ralph Norman (@RepRalphNorman) February 8, 2022

The shift in Democratic messaging surrounding the pandemic was buoyed in part by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s upset win in Virginia in November. Focus group findings by Third Way, a think tank aligned with Democrats, found that swing voters who voted for Youngkin over Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe were motivated by COVID-19 restrictions and school closures even more so than critical race theory being taught in the classroom, NBC News reported.

The school mandates are heavily driving this, as parents revolt. Suzy Weiss has a long piece on the Chinese coronavirus moms, so many of whom typically vote Democrat, were Never Trump, and are very upset about all the masking restrictions on their kids in schools, on the hybrid schooling models, on being called terrorists for wanting their kids in school, unmasked, so they can learn.

“Democrats’ plan to fight COVID is working — cases are down & vaccines are widely available,” Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, tweeted Wednesday. “Now, it’s time to give people their lives back. With science as our guide, we’re ready to start getting back to normal.”

“People are ready to pivot” from the pandemic, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday.

It’s a stark contrast to what the left was saying just a month ago when Youngkin banned school mask mandates in Virginia.

“Kids will die,” CNN political pundit Joe Lockhart tweeted three weeks ago.

The question for the midterms is “are they doing this too late?” People were ready to pivot last year. Will Republicans highlight what the Democrats did in a concerted effort?