CD11 candidates split on NFL kneeling decision

Candidates in the 11th congressional district are split about the National Football League’s decision to bar players from kneeling during the national anthem.

On the Republican side, Assemblyman Jay Webber has come out with full-throated support of the decision, which was passed after a near-unanimous vote by the league’s team owners, while some on the Democratic side are less keen on the decision.

“I am pleased to see the NFL do the right thing and compel players to stand during our National Anthem,” Webber said in a statement. “Our veterans and currently serving members of the armed forces put their lives on the line for us and our nation, and kneeling during the Anthem is simply disrespectful to their sacrifice. If players want to support certain causes they can certainly find a better time to do so.”

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York told reporters after the announcement, which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall said was unanimous, that he abstained from the vote.

NFL players have courted controversy over the past two years by kneeling during the national anthem in order to draw attention to certain social justice issues, including police shootings of black men.

Democratic frontrunner Mikie Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy pilot, viewed the new rules in a less favorable light.

“That is not a decision that I would’ve made,” Sherrill said. “I am a veteran, and I fought for people to have the right to dissent. I was opposed to that decision, and I don’t think it’s American.”

While Sherril’s qualms with the ruling were a matter of principle, Democratic candidate Mitchell Cobert’s issues with the decision focused on the process.

The league’s owners, he said, ought to have allowed NFL players and the NFL Players Association to have input on the decision.

“I think that I would be against the decision because it didn’t include the players,” Cobert said. “I’m a veteran. I served in the military. I have respect for, obviously, the flag, and I think anybody that has served in the military has an obligation to protect the country and understands how important it is to respect the flag. The problem here is the conflict between exercising first amendment rights and respect for the flag.”

While the issue has gained much national coverage, it seems unlikely that it will have much impact on the race given the problems facing the state.

If it does, past polling suggests that the district, which is 82% white, would favor Webber’s stance on the issue.

A Washinton Post-Kaiser Family Foundation Poll conducted in earlier this year found that white people think that kneeling during the national anthem in than those of other racial groups, with 58% of whites saying it is never appropriate to kneel during the national anthem, compared to 53% of all adults.

Black respondents were far more likely to think that kneeling during the national anthem was an appropriate form of protest, with only 22% saying that such displays were never appropriate. But, only 3% of the district’s population is black, so even if that voting bloc is animated by the issue, it’s impact will be somewhat limited.