How polarized is politics in the US, really?

[ZenMode]

I think a lot of people, including myself, thought that 2020 was going to be the new norm for voter turnout, political polarization and divide in the country. Everyone was basically "picking a side". Picking of sides was breaking up families, ending friendships and resulting in a loss of jobs or leaving of jobs. No matter which side you were on, it was us against them with the future of the country hanging in the balance. The "undecideds" were being squeezed out and anyone who didn't pick a side was uninformed, foolish (putting it nicely) and confused.

Then 2024 came along....

The final numbers aren't in, but it doesn't look like Trump, even with gains in many demographics, is going to match is 2020 popular vote total. It'll be close. Kamala will be lucky if she gets within 10 million of Biden's 2020 total.

Lots of people sat this one out. Lots of people apparently weren't convinced by the fear-mongering on either side. Lots of people weren't consumed by polarization and social media nonsense. A decent number of people did jump from one side to another or split their vote between Trump and local Dem candidate and didn't just blindly vote for the letter next to the name.

Maybe it's just me, but all of this seems like a good thing. The "Hatfield vs McCoy" perception we get from cable news and social media seems to have been overestimated.

 

[wmheel1287]

I think a lot of people, including myself, thought that 2020 was going to be the new norm for voter turnout, political polarization and divide in the country. Everyone was basically "picking a side". Picking of sides was breaking up families, ending friendships and resulting in a loss of jobs or leaving of jobs. No matter which side you were on, it was us against them with the future of the country hanging in the balance. The "undecideds" were being squeezed out and anyone who didn't pick a side was uninformed, foolish (putting it nicely) and confused.

Then 2024 came along....

The final numbers aren't in, but it doesn't look like Trump, even with gains in many demographics, is going to match is 2020 popular vote total. It'll be close. Kamala will be lucky if she gets within 10 million of Biden's 2020 total.

Lots of people sat this one out. Lots of people apparently weren't convinced by the fear-mongering on either side. Lots of people weren't consumed by polarization and social media nonsense. A decent number of people did jump from one side to another or split their vote between Trump and local Dem candidate and didn't just blindly vote for the letter next to the name.

Maybe it's just me, but all of this seems like a good thing. The "Hatfield vs McCoy" perception we get from cable news and social media seems to have been overestimated.

I think you're trying to explain apathy and defeatist as a positive.

 

[ZenMode]

I think you're trying to explain apathy and defeatist as a positive.

Apathy, at least to me, is a positive when compared to the alternative.

Not sure why Dems would have a defeatist attitude coming off of Biden's convincing win in 2020.

 

[1moretimeagain]

I’d guess the gender voting split will be as polarized as we’ve seen in a long time.

 

[1moretimeagain]

Apathy, at least to me, is a positive when compared to the alternative.

Not sure why Dems would have a defeatist attitude coming off of Biden's convincing win in 2020.

Because Biden’s win was 4 years ago and there was an election earlier this week. That would be my best guess.

 

[ZenMode]

Because Biden’s win was 4 years ago and there was an election earlier this week. That would be my best guess.

Right. I'm talking about what led up to the results of the election, not necessarily how people felt after the election.