“It’s a winning issue with independents, and it’s good for the base, but I really think rank-and-file American voters who are in the middle, whether you’re center-left, center-right, suburban votes, parents, I think they all feel like America’s not a racist nation, critical race theory is being shoved down everybody’s throat,” said Bob Heckman, a Republican consultant who has worked on nine presidential campaigns, including Sen. Lindsey Graham’s in 2016. “I think this is a case of the Democrats going way too far, and I think it’s a very effective issue.”

The salience of hitting Democrats on the subject of race was discussed privately by GOP strategists on the sidelines of a Republican National Committee dinner in California last month, and again at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association last week in Aspen, Colo., according to multiple people who attended those events.

At the RGA gathering, the effectiveness of the “America is not a racist country” line was discussed specifically, with Republicans buoyed by GOP battleground state polling indicating the idea “white Americans are inherently racist” is deeply unpopular with voters, including independents.