On Sunday, ads paid for by the Chamber of Commerce will begin airing on Fox News and other conservative outlets, championing the "Common Core" curriculum loathed by hard-right conservatives. It's the latest battle in the business/Tea Party war that began during last year's government shutdown, but has the business community fighting in extremely hostile and heavily defended territory.
Victoria Jackson (AP)
In its report on the advertising push Politico notes that Common Core — a set of proposed guidelines on key benchmarks in math and reading education — has been under fire from conservatives "for months." The Chamber backs the proposal because it's aimed at improving the basic skills of kids coming out of high school. In addition to the TV spots, it will also ask activists to hammer local elected officials — "mostly in deep red states," per Politico —  with emails and calls demanding adoption of the curriculum. And the Chamber is willing to wield its biggest hammer: political donations. The head of the Phoenix, Arizona Chamber said of politicians in his state: "They are going to The Business-Tea Party War Comes to a Critical Conservative Stronghold: Education - The Wire: