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Think Republicans are disconnected from reality? It's even worse among liberals
A new survey found Democrats live with less political diversity despite being more tolerant of it – with startling results
Hochschild, Arlie http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/21/democrats-republicans-political-beliefs-national-survey-poll
Publisher: The Guardian
Date Written: 21/07/2019
Year Published: 2019
Resource Type: Article
Democrats and Republicans have deep misconceptions about what the other side believes. This stops them from working together towards goals that mutually acceptable and achievable.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
In a surprising new national survey, members of each major American political party were asked what they imagined to be the beliefs held by members of the other. The survey asked Democrats: "How many Republicans believe that racism is still a problem in America today?" Democrats guessed 50%. It’s actually 79%. The survey asked Republicans how many Democrats believe "most police are bad people". Republicans estimated half; it’s really 15%....
One of the study's findings: the wilder a person’s guess as to what the other party is thinking, the more likely they are to also personally disparage members of the opposite party as mean, selfish or bad. Not only do the two parties diverge on a great many issues, they also disagree on what they disagree on....
Democrats can recognize pieces of common ground where they already exist. For my 2016 book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, I studied enthusiastic backers of Donald Trump in Louisiana – the last place on earth a Democrat might look for common ground.
But one man I talked with – someone raised on a sugar plantation, retired from a life-long career in oil, a proud member of the Louisiana Tea Party and a Trump supporter – grinned broadly at the mention of Bernie Sanders. "Free college? Free medical care? How yawl going to pay for that? He’s a pie in the sky guy," he said. "But he's a good man, Uncle Bernie." Although an oil worker, he was a fan of clean energy, and liked the idea of a Manhattan Project to implement it.
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