Why can’t we be friends?
The proportion of Americans in each political party with a very unfavorable view of the other party has tripled over the past three decades, per a new Pew Research survey of 6,100+ US adults published last week.
🔵🔴 A deeper dive… Pew also found the proportion of Americans who view both parties in a negative light has grown steadily over the past 28 years, from 6% in 1994 to 27% today.
- Independents who lean toward one party or the other appear especially motivated by negativity. Both GOP- and Democrat-leaning independents are more likely to say they lean that way due to dislike of the other party’s policies, rather than support for their own lawmakers’ policies (by a factor of nearly 2-to-1).
✋ Yes, but… Pew’s survey found that most Americans are reluctant to judge others by their political affiliation; just 15% of those surveyed, including 14% of Republicans and 24% of Democrats, say the party someone supports says a lot about whether they are a good or a bad person.
🤷♀️ But, but, but: Half of Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans who said that political party means nothing about whether someone is a good or bad person, also answered that members of the opposing party were especially immoral.
🇺🇸 Big picture: Overall, Pew found 71% of Americans either strongly or somewhat agree with the statement: “I often wish there were more political parties to choose from in this country.” (Could one be the newly-created ‘Forward Party’?)
📊 Flash poll: Why do you think America’s political landscape has become so polarized in recent decades?
See a 360° view of what the media is saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that America’s current, fierce political divide has been exacerbated by social media, partisan news networks, and the country’s regional divides – but the GOP is clearly the greater offender when it comes to antagonism and obstructionism.
- Others contend that Republican state lawmakers and conservative judges are already in the process of creating a divergence between Red and Blue states that hasn’t been seen since the Civil War.
- “Is there anything Democrats and Republicans won’t fight about?” –Nicholas Goldberg. LA Times
- “Red states are building a nation within a nation” –Ronald Brownstein, CNN
- “What Happened When 7 Trump Voters and 6 Biden Voters Tried to Find Common Ground” –America in Focus, NY Times
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the partisan storylines on both sides of the aisle have become so detached from reality that it’s starting to bode ill for the future of America, as both sides will inevitably trend towards becoming as awful and ridiculous as the other side makes them out to be.
- Others contend that Republican lawmakers in Congress should abandon all illusions of “bipartisanship” and refuse to deal with Democrats until they’ve won back a majority, since Democrats are currently forcing their agenda down America’s throat without any GOP support.
- “America’s Political Story Lines Need a Reboot” –Lance Morrow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
- “Republicans pursuing ‘bipartisanship’ are useless to the cause” –Kelly Sadler, Washington Times
- “A fence won’t bridge the political gap” –Brad Barber, Deseret News
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