a pew research poll Last week’s poll found Donald Trump’s favorability rating was just 3 points higher than Joe Biden’s. Among black respondents, Biden leads his Republican opponent 54% to 12%. However, a quarter of those surveyed said they had a negative view of both candidates.
This reluctance may explain why the president remains a major campaign contributor despite the horrific debacle that Biden and his party have inflicted on this country. Although he is widely seen as senile or incompetent or both, he remains only about 2 percentage points behind Trump in a two-way race among likely voters.
It is more socially fashionable to object to Trump’s offensive style than to focus on Biden comparing Trump to Hitler.
The conventional explanation for this close race between two elderly presidential candidates is that neither has much appeal among “moderate” voters, especially those who want an end to divisive politics. Perhaps if we had some talented young people running for president, we would all come together and find common ground.
Let me give you another perspective. Our society is deeply divided both politically and culturally. While many voters claim to be centrist, most of the voters I meet or hear on TV agree with the left on social and constitutional issues, but do not support economic revitalization or military support for allies. They also hope to expand support.
There is no evidence that people who do not lean to the right criticize Biden’s vile partisan attacks on Republicans and devout Christians or his use of police power in the same way as President Trump’s rhetorical excesses.
Opposing Trump’s unpleasant style focuses on Democrats’ brutal partisan tactics and Biden calling people who voted for Trump “extremists” and comparing Trump to Hitler. It’s more socially popular. This great indulgence on the left stems partly from ignorance, but also from many Americans’ attempts to align themselves with those in power.
Conservative media may also be exaggerating their advantage on the wedge issue. They may be overgeneralizing popular reactions to the destruction of borders, the overrun of cities by violent illegal immigrants, the social effects of inflation, or the imposition of anti-LGBT and racial propaganda. . Most of the people who support Biden either don’t care about these specific issues, or they don’t care about white racism and homophobia, fighting for unlimited abortion rights, or against immigrants. They may be far less interested in responding in a sensitive manner than in being more sensitive.
The mistake that many on the right, and indeed on the center right, continue to make is to imagine that everyone in America feels exactly the same way they do about the same issues. Republican pundits also seem to believe that once they explain themselves well, and get their “message” across, especially to racial minorities, they can win everywhere.
Clearly, some of this message is getting through to Hispanic voters who are turning away from the Democratic Party. all at once. But I would love to be proven wrong, but I doubt this shift is occurring to the same extent among black voters. I would also be surprised if suburban women were changing their minds about their bloody social priorities.
According to one survey, 28% of Americans Recent Gallup Poll, considering illegal immigration to be the most important election issue, suggests there are many voters who would be fine with Biden flooding the country with immigrants and letting drug cartels run wild. And these people would have to be cognitively impaired not to realize the effect of this policy of creating a one-party, left-wing, centralized state. Perhaps many supporters of Biden’s border policies will be satisfied with the outcome.
Note that I’m not saying Trump and his party don’t have a path to victory. They should be able to win over many Hispanic voters this fall, and may also be able to reach independents by highlighting inflation and the rising cost of living.
What is less clear is whether left-wing opponents will be able to convert tens of millions of voters from other ideological blocs, voters who do not resonate with the Republican Party’s list of grievances.
Letitia James, who ran for New York attorney general on the platform of “Get Trump,” received about 55% of the vote. Elected for second term in 2022. I can’t help but believe that millions of New Yorkers fully share James’s obsessive hatred of Trump and applaud her attempt to beggar the hated Republican hero.
Self-proclaimed centrists often lament that Americans live in different echo chambers and don’t find ways to listen to each other. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, has established a cottage industry of publications and lectures on how to respectfully discuss each other’s differences in environments. According to Hitesuch polarization is unnecessary and entirely avoidable.
Good luck to those pursuing such dreams! Our conflict zones are likely to remain as they are, and the right will need to find ways to reach those who are still reachable. But first conservatives must abandon their illusion that once they hear their message, everyone will agree.
