The Week the House Republican Caucus Collapsed Into Anarchy

At The Washington Post, opinion columnist Dana Milbank details the House Republican caucus’ week of turmoil as a result of party infighting over the speaker nomination, Hamas’ attack on Israel, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the next government funding deadline. The week’s chaos began on Monday when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the possibility of returning as speaker during a press conference about the conflict in Israel, during which he accused President Biden of appeasement and left-wing Democrats of antisemitism. PRRI research finds that Christian nationalism adherents are approximately twice as likely as all Americans to believe that Christians in America love Israel more than most Jewish people in America do.

Abortion Rights Are on a Winning Streak at the Ballot Box. Ohio Could Test That.

19th News’ Grace Panetta reports that in August, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Issue 1, a proposal that would have made it more difficult to put citizen-led initiatives on the ballot and pass them. This November, Issue 1 will again appear on the ballot, this time to protect abortion rights in addition to the right to contraception, miscarriage care, and fertility treatment in the state constitution. While ballot initiatives limiting access to abortion have been defeated by voters in red states, this is the first time a proposal that affirmatively expands access to legal abortion will be put before voters in a red state. PRRI finds that only 6% of Ohio voters support abortion being banned in all or most cases.

Florida’s Immigration Law Leads to Arrests of Undocumented Drivers

Yacob Reyes at Axios reports that Florida’s new immigration law has yielded three arrests by the state highway patrol in the past three months. Known as SB 1718, the law increases felony charges for people who drive into Florida with undocumented passengers. Two of the three migrants arrested were stopped on the highway for darker-than-normal tinted windows; they also have dark complexions. Juan Sabines, the Mexican consul in Orlando, stated his concern that Florida is “criminalizing migrants just for being migrants.” PRRI finds that support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants has remained remarkably consistent since 2013, averaging around 60% since 2013.

The Promised Land vs. White Supremacy

On a recent episode of Crash Course, PRRI Founder and President Robert P. Jones speaks with host Timothy L. O’Brien about the idea that America was intended to be a promised land for white European Christians. As Jones points out, when Europeans colonizers reached the United States, they applied the Doctrine of Discovery’s racial and religious hierarchy to sanction their violent response to the Indigenous people they encountered. Today, PRRI finds that about a third of Americans believe this idea of America as a promised land for European Christians, but those who hold this view are four times more likely to support using political violence to defend it.

What’s Buzzing?

Read PRRI’s report, “Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture” here.