Source: Politics<\/p>\n
CHICAGO \u2014 The Supreme Court decisions Thursday barring colleges from using race in their admissions processes became an immediate talking point in the 2024 campaign, with President Joe Biden declaring<\/a>:<\/a> \u201cThis is not a normal court.\u201d<\/p>\n POLITICO asked political consultants whether ending affirmative action in higher ed will resonate with voters the same way the end of Roe v. Wade fueled the 2022 election. The general answer is not likely \u2014 but certain voting blocks will be spurred to show up.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope inactive voters across the country finally start to realize, particularly Black voters, that elections have real consequences,\u201d said Larry Luster, a political consultant who has worked on campaigns for Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really pisses me off,\u201d Luster said of the court\u2019s two decisions on the same issue. \u201cThese actions are racist at their core.\u201d<\/p>\n David Axelrod, a former senior strategist for President Barack Obama, expects the rulings \u201cwill motivate some, particularly the young.\u201d<\/p>\n Pete Giangreco, a Democratic strategist who\u2019s worked on nine presidential campaigns, says the Democratic base is likely to be most motivated. <\/p>\n \u201cJust another log on the book-burning, abortion-banning, don\u2019t-say-gay fire that\u2019s consuming what\u2019s left of the Republican Party,\u201d he said. \u201cCenter-right moderates have nowhere to go but to Joe Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n Aaron Del Mar, a Republican State Central Committeeman who is also an Asian-Pacific Islander, says ending affirmative action isn\u2019t the same as ending Roe v. Wade. <\/p>\n \u201cMany white suburban women who would have in the past voted Republican were enraged by the Dobbs\u00a0ruling, as they felt it infringed on their rights to choose and control their own bodies,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the affirmative action cases, it\u2019s less personal \u2014 and even if they wouldn\u2019t admit it, it gives their own children more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Becky Carroll, a Democratic political consultant, called the latest rulings \u201ca wake up call to the idea that elections matter because presidents and senators control who gets appointed to federal benches. We have the ruling today because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n And Brian Stryker, a Democratic pollster at Impact Research, says, \u201cDobbs\u00a0in 2024 will be the Dobbs\u00a0of 2022. People are still 11 of 10 mad with good reason, so it will be hard to supplant.\u201d<\/p>\n A version of this initially appeared in the June 30 edition of Illinois Playbook. Sign up for the newsletter here<\/a>. <\/p>\n