ANTI-ESG ANTIPATHY — Republican politicians who were hoping to be swept into the White House on a wave of "anti-woke" sentiment have run into unexpected headwinds in the form of voter disinterest. They seem to be getting the message, too. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis initially styled his presidential campaign around the idea of himself as the avatar of the GOP war against corporate environmental, social and governance policies. But he barely mentions the topic in the economic agenda he just rolled out. And upstart Vivek Ramaswamy, whose claim to electoral relevance was rooted in attacks on ESG, has also moved on to other topics in his bid for the White House. Those shifts are the latest sign that Republicans’ attempt to make sustainable investing a campaign issue might not be working. A Morning Consult survey of nearly 2,000 voters conducted in June found that less than half of voters think corporations are pushing “wokeness” too far — a number that drops to 33 percent with regard to Wall Street. The signs of potential voter resistance have been around for awhile. A report released last year by Penn State’s Center for the Business of Sustainability and ROKK Solutions, a Washington-based bipartisan public affairs firm, found that majorities in both parties oppose government limits on ESG investments. Republicans were even likelier than Democrats to oppose restrictions, according to the report. And there are also signs of resistance at the state level, where Republican officials have led the way in efforts to punish companies over their policy choices. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of conservative state lawmakers, didn't even consider adopting a “model policy” at its conference late last month to serve as a template for governments that want to stop doing business with companies whose business practices they oppose. The group had twice previously declined to endorse the measure. Conservative politicians have faced pressure from long-time allies like the American Bankers Association, which has used its influence at the state level to kill off or water down some of the more far-reaching (and costly) anti-ESG measures. "ABA and our state association colleagues appreciate that ALEC members chose again not to pursue anti-bank ESG model policies,” Blair Bernstein, an ABA spokesperson, said in a statement. “We remain hopeful that ALEC will continue to take a thoughtful approach to these issues and respect the free market principles on which it was founded.” To be sure, the issue isn’t dead — or close to it. U.S. House Republicans just capped what they designated as “ESG Month” in July by passing a package of legislation out of the Financial Services Committee. But those measures are viewed as messaging bills that are unlikely to be passed into law. “Congressional Republicans have squeezed most of the juice that they’re going to be able to get out of corporate wokeism on ESG issues — because they have held hearings, they’ve introduced pieces of legislation,” said Ron Bonjean, the Republican strategist who is a co-founder and partner at ROKK Solutions. There are some signs of success, however, in the sense that the politicization of the issue has blunted companies’ willingness to publicly promote environmental and social initiatives. At the same time, there is concern among some in the party once known for its support of free markets and big business that the attacks might eventually backfire. “The populist side [of the Republican base] is happy to go after any large institution, whether it’s a company, whether it’s government,” said Jon McHenry, a Republican pollster. “The more establishment, more traditional wing of the party doesn’t really want government getting involved."
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