We Are Divided: On That At Least We Agree - Horowitz
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Before a political problem can be solved, there usually needs to be widespread recognition that it is in fact a problem and a serious one at that. In this sense--and only in this sense--we can take some comfort that Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike, by and large, agree that we are dangerously divided. “On a scale of 0 to 100, where '0' means there is no political division in the country and '100' indicates that we are on the edge of civil war, the mean rating Americans give is a little over 70," according to Georgetown University’s Battleground Civility Poll.
Despite President Biden’s commitment to bringing the nation together, more Americans believe that we have become further divided during his presidency than think we have become more unified. Specifically, “43% of voters believe politics in our country are less civil since President Biden took office, as compared to 29% who say they are more civil," documented the Battleground Poll. Additionally, most Americans think a prime cause of our divisions growing more pronounced was the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-thirds feel “politics has gotten worse since the start of the pandemic,” while only 15% feel “politics has gotten better.”
It is the case that we’ve always had strong disagreements in our nation and people caring deeply about issues and strongly advocating for their point of view can be signs of a healthy and robust democracy. The problem, today, however, is that we increasingly see people with different political views than ours as enemies—not as fellow citizens with whom we happen to disagree.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNearly 4-in-10 Democrats and Republicans, for example, say they would feel somewhat or very upset if their child married someone from the opposite party, according to an Economist/YouGov Poll. About half of Republicans and Democrats view members of the opposite party as “more immoral," and at least 2-out-of-3 view members of the opposite party as “more close-minded," according to Pew Research Group. More than 6-in-10 Republicans also view Democrats as “more unpatriotic” than other Americans.
The partisan media echo chambers that too many of us marinate in contribute to this high level of polarization. Research shows that if you are mainly exposed to news and information that shares your point of view, you become more convinced that you are right and more definite and rigid in your opinions. Fox News devotes considerable time and energy to demonizing Joe Biden and defining the Democratic Party by its most left-wing voices even though they are not representative of the party as a whole. Similarly, MSNBC and CNN devote major time to demonizing Donald Trump and to connecting most other Republicans to him.
There are certainly elements of reality to the harshly negative lenses by which all the major cable news networks present people who do not share that network’s and their audience’s point of view. But the relentlessly negative portrayals with little or no room for any positive comments or news about the opposing side create an at least somewhat distorted picture. If we believe the worst about our political opponents, it is hard to remember our common humanity.
Even more problematic than the partisan character of the media we consume is the disinformation spread on cable networks and through social media. At this moment, this is a far larger problem in the Republican and conservative media and information universe, resulting in QAnon, anti-vaccination misinformation, and the false belief that the 2020 election was stolen having taken hold in this sub-set of the electorate. Significant percentages of Republicans and conservatives now believe a number of things that are plainly false and in the case of QAnon out there where the buses don’t run. If we can’t agree on the facts or even that there is a discernible truth that we can at least imperfectly understand, it is hard to reach principled compromises on the solutions.
There are hopeful signs, however, that I believe over time will help narrow our divides and more importantly remind us of what we share in common. The across-the-board support for robustly providing military and other forms of aid to Ukraine shows that Americans can still come together on standing up for democracy abroad and for a rule-based world order where countries can’t invade and brutalize other nations simply because they have the power to do so. The brutality of the Russian invasion has already begun to wake up some Americans who have flirted with authoritarianism at home and sanitized authoritarians abroad about what a devil’s bargain that could turn out to be.
Also, the upcoming primetime hearings to be conducted by the House select committee to investigate January 6 have the potential to persuade a marginal, but still important, number of Republicans that the day itself and the events leading up to it posed a significant threat to the democracy and reforms must be implemented to make sure it can never happen again. While the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that January 6 was an insurrection, only a little more than 4-in-10 Republicans characterize it as such, according to a series of national polls. More Republicans say it was an act of patriotism than a threat to democracy.
Given the far-reaching nature of President Trump’s unprecedented attempt to overturn the election results with no evidence of widespread voter fraud, disrupting the fundamental democratic principle of the peaceful transfer of power, and the thorough and detailed documenting of this effort already provided by the committee, the hearings-- if done compellingly-- can be one of the rare instances that breakthrough our partisan echo chambers and move public opinion. Here is where Representative Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) role as vice-chair of the Committee will be of particular importance. She is an effective communicator, who despite President Trump’s and his allies’ attempts to banish her, will still be credible to a slice of Republicans and conservatives who are movable.
While this particular political moment is a fraught one for the democracy, Americans still have faith in our young people to turn this situation around in the long run. Nearly 6-in-10 “Americans expressed optimism about the future because young people are committed to making this country a better place to live for everyone,” reported the Battleground Poll. This confidence is well-placed as the “racial resentments’ that have fueled a good percentage of our current divides are far less present in millennials and Generation Z who have grown up and mainly embrace the diversifying America that they will inherit.
Ed Goeas, the Republican pollster who partners with Democratic pollster Celinda Lake on the Battleground Poll, best summed up the challenge ahead of us: “It is a tribute to the fundamental optimism of the American electorate that voters continue to have hope for the future despite their reasonable frustrations with the present. The real question that cannot be answered with a survey is how we get the political environment to a point that that optimism can truly grow.”
I’ve pointed out a few unfolding developments that will nudge us in the right direction, but Goeas points out the hard work ahead of us. The path to a solution, however, does begin with agreement that there is a problem. That we have. It is a good first step.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.
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