Wednesday Edition

The voters who propelled Donald Trump to an Iowa caucuses win Monday night seemed to be more focused on right-wing cultural issues than kitchen table concerns. (AP)

The results of the AP Votecast survey in Iowa:

• About 90% of caucusgoers said they want upheaval or big changes in how government operates.

• 6 in 10 said they don’t have faith in the legal system.

• 40% named immigration as their top issue, compared to the roughly 30% who picked the economy.

• 66% of caucusgoers said their finances were holding steady or improving.

Donald Trump's win in Iowa seemed less about specific policies and more about his overall appeal:

• Trump opposes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban: But Trump beat DeSantis by 30 points among caucusgoers who favor a six-week abortion ban.

• Trump opposes Nikki Haley’s stance on raising the social security age: He beat Haley by nearly 15 points among voters who support raising the minimum Social Security age.

GOP strategist John Ullyot on what Trump offers: “President Trump is the only candidate in the field who gives the GOP base and GOP primary voters exactly what they’re looking for, which is someone who will shake up the establishment, someone who will not accept the status quo, someone who is not ‘go along to get along.’”

Florida’s campaign against wokeness has even conservatives saying some of the state’s policies cross the line. (The New Republic)

Defamation: State Senator Jason Brodeur has introduced a bill which would make it defamation to accuse someone of transphobia, racism, sexism or homophobia. Offenders would face a $35,000 fine. Critics of the bill have raised free speech concerns.

Books: Conservative commentator and former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly expressed outrage after two of his books were pulled from Florida schools under a law intended to keep sexually explicit content out of classrooms. “There are materials that are inappropriate and those materials have to be specifically included in the law with language that is very specific. You can't be throwing John Grisham under the bus, it's absurd,” O'Reilly said last week.

Abortion: Donald Trump in September criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of a six-week abortion ban, calling it a “terrible mistake.” Almost 70% of Americans say abortion should be legal through the first three months of pregnancy.

Art: A Tallahassee school principal was asked to resign last year after she failed to inform parents sixth-grade art history students would be shown a picture of Michelangelo’s “David” statue.

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What’s happening in Florida (and in other states to a lesser extent) is in large part a reaction to controversial liberal policies. For instance, school guidelines that bar teachers from informing parents about their children’s gender identity and lesson plans containing contentious theories about race. The pendulum has swung back the other way — and maybe it’s too far.

Prominent conservative activists want right-wingers to stop admiring civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. (Wired)

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, one of the largest conservative activist groups in the country: “A core part of this fake history of America is the elevation of MLK into a saint, whose entire being is beyond reproach and above question. This sanctified version of MLK strips away his actual views and ignores his actual actions. The real MLK was a complicated person.”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who in 2015 called King a “hero,” at a recent event: “I have a very, very radical view on this, but I can defend it, and I’ve thought about it. …We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.”

On Monday, Kirk released a series of attacks on King on social media and on his popular podcast.

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The right has been unhappy with the government and U.S. institutions for some time. What's new is that this disillusionment is spreading to key parts of the American story that used to unite us.

To make a point about the record-high levels of immigration at the border, Texas has sent more than 100,000 migrants to six sanctuary cities over the past two years. (The Center Square)

A new Center Square report:

• Over 12,500 people were sent to Washington, D.C. since April 2022.

• More than 37,100 people were bused to New York City.

• Chicago received over 30,800 people bused by Texas.

Democrats have criticized the bussing of migrants as dehumanizing, but Texas and other states with GOP governors are responsible for only a portion of the migrant influx into U.S. cities. For instance, 118,000 migrants have ended up in New York City since spring 2022. The federal government, as well as activist groups and Democratically-led cities and states, have also bussed migrants.

Chicago City Council member Anthony Beale in November: “We have other Democratic cities, Denver, California, L.A., sending their people to Chicago, New York. They’re sending their migrants to Chicago. Why? Because they are saying, ‘We can’t take anymore.’”

Democratic voters say they care about climate change, and it’s become a central part of the party’s platform, but data shows the issue is far from a top priority for Americans. (Slow Boring)

Political journalist Matt Yglesias: “This is a big deal electorally because the Democratic Party actually does act like a political party that believes climate change is an extremely important problem, elevating it to the top of the priority hierarchy for the Biden administration. So it’s completely reasonable for voters to base their voting behavior in part on whether they agree with Democrats’ climate-related policies. And it’s electorally damaging because, frankly, most voters don’t agree with the party’s assessment. They’re not climate denialists who think the problem is fake or that scientists are lying about it. But they just aren’t as interested in it as Joe Biden or the average New York Times reader.”

The data:

• Only 25% of Americans are willing to pay higher taxes for climate change actions, per an IPSOS survey.

• A 2019 Reuters poll found only a third of respondents would pay $100 to fight climate change, and most wouldn't pay an extra $10/month on electricity bills for it.

• Pew Research Center surveys indicate very little public support for completely phasing out fossil fuels or banning gasoline-powered cars.