Just ask the average Democrat today.
Gallup recently surveyed American voters on their satisfaction regarding 22 policy areas in the country.
Of the 22 policy areas there were only three in which a majority of Democrats were satisfied with the nation's policies.
A majority of Republicans were satisfied with how things are in 11 of the 22 policy areas.
What is particularly interesting in looking at the data is the significant partisan divide in how Republicans and Democrats view the same issue.
It almost seems that they are living in two different countries.
For example, 82% of Republicans are satisfied with the state of the U.S. economy but only 39% or Democrats are.
70% of Republicans are satisfied with the nation's laws and policies on guns. Only 21% of Democrats are.
On the other hand, 45% of Democrats are satisfied with current levels of immigration into the country as opposed to 21% of Republicans. Of those Democrats that are dissatisfied, only 7% want less immigration. On the other hand, of Republicans who are dissatisfied, 47% want less immigration,
The two issue areas that Republicans and Democrats are most in agreement, and are generally satisfied with, involves the nation's military strength and preparedness (82%R/77%D positive) and the nation's security from terrorism (68%R/69%D positive).
I tried to go back into the Gallup polling archives to see if I could find how much all of these issues are affected by the attitudes towards the person in the White House. That level of detail was not available. My guess is that Democrats had a much better attitude about all of these issues when Obama was in office and Republicans had a much worse outlook.
Only 13% of Democrats today are satisfied with the nation's efforts on poverty and homelessness? Do they not realize that unemployment during the Trump administration is the lowest it has been in over 50 years? Black, Hispanic and Women's unemployment rates are at all-time record lows.
The poverty rate in 2012 under Obama was 15.0%. In 2018, the poverty rate was a little over 12%.
If Democrats are negative today about the policies concerning poverty, what did they think when Obama was President? Undoubtedly they had a much more positive view than today. So much for the facts cited above.
You can see the overall effect of the partisan bias in these numbers by looking at the historical trends since 1993 on the question of U.S. satisfaction by party.
It is rather remarkable to look at the partisan divide beginning in 2000. Republicans are satisfied when a Republican is President and Democrats are satisfied with a Democrat. That should be no surprise. However, they are both very dissatisfied when their person is not in office.
In 2018, 67% of Republicans were satisfied overall with the nation compared to 12% of Democrats.
In 2013, when Obama was President, 65% of Democrats were satisfied with the ways things were going compared to 5% of Republicans.
That is a gigantic partisan divide.
You get a better sense of how deep the partisan divide is in looking at this interesting survey question.
 |
| Credit: Twitter @bpmehlman https://t.co/0y3q30DGAi |
Let's put the 2019 numbers in perspective for Democrat parents looking at the details in the PRRI survey from which they came.
45% would be unhappy if their child married a Republican.
Compare that to the percentages of Democrat parents that would be unhappy if their child married someone who...
Identifies as a transgender 33%
Is the same gender as their son or daughter 25%
Belongs to a different religious group 10%
Is a different race or ethnicity 7%
I would be very curious where marrying a Republican would come down compared to marrying an ISIS terrorist in Syria? I wish the pollster would have added that question to the survey.
It all makes you wonder why the partisan divide has gotten so large. Is it the increased influence of cable news? Is it social media? Is it the education system? The tax system? The welfare state? Has the Presidency taken on too much power? What about Congress? What about the Supreme Court and the courts generally?
It also makes you wonder if this partisan divide will ever be bridged?
Will we ever start working together again on common goals and shared objectives?
Unfortunately, history suggests that a threat or crisis to our nation may be necessary for us to appreciate what we have and the necessity of working together to preserve it.
Our country is not great because of who sits in the White House. It is great based on our nation's past deeds, the sacrifices of so many to secure our freedoms, and the dreams that are yet unfulfilled to make it even greater.
Of this, there should be no debate and no partisanship.
No comments:
Post a Comment