Poll position
Good news and bad news was revealed in a recent study funded by the Walton Family Foundation on the issue of political polarization. The survey, conducted by Echelon Insights and Benenson Strategy Group, interviewed 1,455 Americans and was conducted in both English and Spanish.
The results were mixed, and our considered editorial opinion is: What the heck?
When it comes to compromise, 88 percent of Americans agree it’s important for successful collaboration. Seventy-five percent even say compromise is more important than fighting for values.
Fully 85 percent see the value in listening to others with whom they disagree, and 78 percent believe those they disagree with still have a role to play in society. Roughly 60 percent believe we have more in common than what we don’t.
Seventy-six percent say they could be friends of those with whom they disagree, which is ironic because—get this—only 53 percent of respondents said they think “people with different political views than mine are generally good people who just have the wrong ideas.”
It’s hard to understand how 76 percent could be friends with those with whom they disagree, even though 47 percent believe that soon-to-be-friend is not so great a person.
According to the survey, most Americans blame both social and conventional media as well as politicians for dividing us, but concern over that division varies by generation.
Fully 85 percent of baby boomers are worried about how divided the country is becoming, while Gen X and millennials are nearly tied at 81 and 80 percent, respectively.
Perhaps the good news is that only 68 percent of Gen Z respondents show similar concern. Hopefully the 32 percent who don’t see division as a concern see it that way because they think if it’s a problem, it’s nothing America can’t get through with compromise and collaboration and not because they don’t care that we’re divided.
The poll, confusing results or not, should once again serve as a warning to the two major political parties.
In the past 24 months, Gallup’s monthly tracking poll regarding party affiliation reveals a deepening disdain for the two parties. Democrats have risen to 30 percent four times in the past two years, while Republicans have reached that number six times. Meanwhile, independents have been pummeling both parties by hitting 40 percent or better 21 times in 24 months, and since July have registered with at least 45 percent of the public declaring their independence.
It may be hard to fathom, but with the general public desiring anything but a head-to-head rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, 2024 could turn out to be more than a two-way race. Stay tuned.