Opinion Today

June 6, 2022

Can mass shootings be prevented, and if so, how?
Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus & Anthony Salvanto, CBS News
Most Americans continue to favor stricter gun laws, but feel that getting them passed is stymied by big money and inaction by politicians. And Americans say the nation's gun debate — no matter where they stand on it — is influenced more by partisanship than public safety. Polling shows they're partly right.

Parents are scared about gun violence in schools, and so are their school-aged children
Fred Backus, Anthony Salvanto & Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News
The spate of gun violence seems to be taking its toll on parents and children alike. Parents are concerned about the safety of their children in schools and report feeling stressed, scared and angry — and many report that their children are feeling the same.

Abortion Poised to Be a Bigger Voting Issue Than in Past
Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup
More U.S. voters this year than in any past election year indicate that abortion will be an important factor in their vote for major offices.

Black voters’ support for Biden has cooled, poll finds
Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Scott Clement, Matthew Brown & Emily Guskin, Washington Post [via opiniontoday.com]
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll of more than 1,200 Black Americans this spring finds what appears to be diminishing support: 7 in 10 approve of President Biden’s job performance, and fewer than one quarter “strongly approve.” A 60 percent majority of Black Americans say Biden is keeping most of his major campaign promises, but 37 percent say he is not.

Economic issues top the public's agenda
Hannah Demissie, ABC News
As the midterm election approaches, most Americans say that the economy, inflation and rising gas prices are the most important issues in determining how they will vote for Congress this November, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Three in five Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of economic recovery
Chris Jackson, Mallory Newall & Charlie Rollason, Ipsos
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds that President Joe Biden’s approval rating on a number of key issues—including economic recovery, inflation, and gas prices—remains underwater with the American public, as a majority disapprove of the job the president is doing.

Los Angeles: Bass slightly ahead of Caruso in new poll, both appear headed for mayoral runoff
Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times [via yahoo.com]
Days before Los Angeles' first open mayoral primary in nearly a decade, Rep. Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer, appear headed toward a November runoff, with Bass building a small edge as the campaign moves toward a close. Bass (D-Los Angeles) is benefiting from strong support among women, who make up a majority of the voters likely to cast ballots, and white liberals, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.

How Big Is the Problem at the U.S. Border?
Jim Clifton, Gallup
Roughly 455 million adults live in the 33 countries that make up Latin America and the Caribbean. Gallup has surveyed almost all of them for the past 15 years, asking adults in these countries if they would like to move to another country permanently if they could. In 2021, 37% said "yes." This means roughly 169 million Latin Americans would like to migrate somewhere.

Off-the-charts gas price hikes are a big problem for Democrats
Harry Enten, CNN
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline topped $4.70 for the first time ever this week. The problem for Democrats is that at this point last year, the average price of regular gasoline was a little over $3 a gallon. That means gas prices are up more than 55% from 12 months ago. No other midterm cycle featured a rate of increase anywhere close to that five months before the election.

Meet the six House Republicans still sweating reelection
Josh Kraushaar, National Journal
House Democrats are playing almost exclusively on defense in this year’s midterms. But they’re still targeting six Republicans, whose fortunes will determine the scope of an expected GOP wave.

Election 2022: Primaries shift focus to control of US House
Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press
From the New Jersey suburbs to Iowa’s capital city to California’s Central Valley, primary elections on Tuesday will determine which Republicans will take on some of the most prominent Democrats who helped flip control of the U.S. House four years ago.

Biden wants to get out more, seething that his standing is now worse than Trump’s
Jonathan Lemire, Politico
Frustrations are mounting and the window for a political revival is closing.

Biden is everywhere, speaking on every issue. But to what effect?
Dan Balz, Washington Post
The president's high-profile strategy asserts that he's in charge, but it also shows his limitations.

In Races to Run Elections, Candidates Are Backed by Key 2020 Deniers
Alexandra Berzon, New York Times
The origin story behind a slate of Republican candidates for secretary of state features a QAnon figure and several promoters of 2020 conspiracies.

A rural county in heart of red California votes more like San Francisco. Here's why
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times [via yahoo.com]
Rural usually means Republican. But Alpine County, set in the far eastern reaches of the state, is a notable exception — a Democratic speck bobbing alone in a sea of red.

History shows the push for gun control faces long odds
Joanna Paxton Federico (Rutgers), Washington Post
Gun rights groups have overwhelmed public opinion for decades

Shootings expose divisions on gun issue in faith communities
Deepa Bharath & Holly Meyer, Associated Press
People of faith who are tired of years of failed gun control efforts and grieving the latest mass shooting victims are pointing out what they say is hypocrisy – conservative Christians pushing to abolish abortion and grant unfettered access to guns. Those who disagree contend the real problem is sin and soft targets. It’s not guns, but the “evil” in people and abortions that kill, they say. These entrenched, partisan divisions in the U.S. on abortion and gun rights are stark after high-profile massacres in New York, California, Texas and elsewhere as the country awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could overturn the constitutional right to abortion.

“I Don’t Normally Cry in Focus Groups” (Roe, with Rachel Vindman)
The Focus Group with Sarah Longwell
The Supreme Court’s leaked opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade may or may not impact the midterm elections. We talked to a group of swing voters (women from swing states who voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020), and they weren’t happy about it. Rachel Vindman, co-host of the podcast The Suburban Women Problem, joins Sarah to listen to…other suburban women. They also discuss how the group feels about the Biden presidency.