![]() This is all consistent with a new survey from Gallup showing that 52 percent of young Americans born between 19 identify as independents. Sixty-three percent of Democrats, compared to 42 percent in 2016, say Republicans are more dishonest than other Americans.Īccording to the survey, in 2022, 27 percent of Americans have unfavorable opinions of both parties compared to 6 percent in 1994 who held unfavorable views of both parties. Seventy-two percent of Republicans now, compared to 45 percent in 2016, say Democrats are more dishonest than other Americans. In 1994, 17 percent of Democrats had a "very unfavorable" view of the Republican Party. Per the Pew report, in 1994, 21 percent of Republicans had a "very unfavorable" view of the Democratic Party. It's dangerous, and we should be aware of what's going on.Ī new survey released by Pew Research Center bears out this trend, showing animosities between those identifying with the two parties getting increasingly sharp and increasing numbers of Americans, particularly younger Americans, not happy with either party. But the depth of animosities now is looking less like the healthy discourse of a free country and more like unraveling of our social fabric. ![]() This common denominator is dangerously eroding today, and animosities are sharpening and deepening.Īm I predicting another civil war? God forbid. But there is a difference between differences of opinion on specific issues of policy and fracturing of discourse because of absence of common ground of values and principles.įor a nation to function, there must be some common denominator of shared values and principles. Immediately upon Lincoln's declared victory, seven Southern states seceded from the Union.Ī vibrant, free and democratic nation thrives with differences of opinion. There were presidential candidates in 1860 running on four different party tickets-the newly formed Republican Party, the Constitutional Union Party, and Northern and Southern parts of a split Democratic Party.Ībraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, emerged victorious with just 39.82 percent of the popular vote. The issue of slavery in the 1850s-whether or the extent to which it should or could be tolerated in America-tore apart the fabric of common values in the nation, and the result was collapse. The deep fracturing of the American electorate-remember the Tea Party?-leading up to the 2012 presidential election was starting to look like what happened in the presidential election in 1860, which occurred amid another massive splintering of the American electorate. I wrote a column in 2011 as the presidential politics of the upcoming year were starting to unfold with the headline "Why 2012 looks a lot like 1860."
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