1 in 3 Americans say violence against government can be justified, citing fears of political schism, pandemic

· Leave a Comment

… A year after a pro-Trump mob ransacked the Capitol in the worst attack on the home of Congress since it was burned by British forces in 1814, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds that about 1 in 3 Americans say they believe violence against the government can at times be justified.

The findings represent the largest share to feel that way since the question has been asked in various polls in more than two decades. They offer a window into the country’s psyche at a tumultuous period in American history, marked by last year’s insurrection, the rise of Trump’s election claims as an energizing force on the right, deepening fissures over the government’s role in combating the pandemic, and mounting racial justice protests sparked by police killings of Black Americans. CONTINUED

Meryl Kornfield & Mariana Alfaro, Washington Post

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

The left is already looking to 2024. Some want to see a Biden primary challenge.

· Leave a Comment

When Joe Biden first came into office, progressives said he could be the next FDR.

Now, as Biden’s relationship with the left has come under strain, liberals are talking about treating him like former President Jimmy Carter instead — and mapping out a Democratic primary challenge in 2024. …

The fact that any primary challenge at all is now openly being discussed demonstrates how disappointed some progressives are about Biden’s presidency. It’s also a reflection of Biden’s weakness in the polls and his advanced age — the same factors that are driving more traditional and moderate Democrats to talk privately about scenarios if Biden doesn’t run for reelection as promised. CONTINUED

Holly Otterbein, Politico

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

‘A hell of a year’: GOP eyes big 2022, but weaknesses remain

· Leave a Comment

This time last year, the Republican Party was hitting bottom. … What a difference 12 months make.

Entering a pivotal election year, a resurgent GOP is poised to reclaim one, if not both, chambers of Congress and retain its lock on dozens of state legislatures and governor’s offices. While victory is far from assured, the GOP’s confidence is fueled by President Joe Biden’s underwhelming poll numbers, a Democratic economic and social agenda that’s faltering, intensifying concerns about inflation, and deepening frustration with the pandemic, which is unleashing yet another wave of infections upon an exhausted nation. …

But at its most basic level, the Republican Party’s optimism is born of the same political headwinds that have shaped U.S. politics for decades. CONTINUED

Steve Peoples & Will Weissert, Associated Press

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

Why 2022 Rhymes With the Previous Four Midterms

· Leave a Comment

It feels safer to bet on unpredictability than stability in this era of tremendous political and social churn and upheaval. While we know that the midterm elections favor the ‘out’ party (i.e. the party that doesn’t control the White House), many wonder if history can be a reliable guide when it feels as if history is being rewritten on a daily basis? …

Yet, there’s more this upcoming midterm has in common with its predecessors. Or, to paraphrase Mark Twain, history may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

And, that’s not great news for President Biden and Democrats in Congress. Here are the four ways in which 2022 “rhymes” with the last four midterm elections in which the party in the White House lost their House and/or Senate majorities. CONTINUED

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report with Amy Walter

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

2021 CBS News polling: What Americans thought about COVID-19, Biden, the January 6 attack and more

· Leave a Comment

2021 was a year of ups and downs in the minds of the American public.

The year began with public concern about the state of U.S. democracy, yet positive ratings for newly-elected President Joe Biden; ratings that would turn more negative over the course of the year. In the spring, there was some optimism about the pandemic as vaccine rates rose and then some concern as a new COVID variant emerged at year’s end. Many of the political divisions we’ve seen in recent years endured throughout 2021 but, all in all, Americans are feeling pretty good about 2022.

CBS News polled thousands of people across the country this year getting their opinions on a range of issues. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from CBS News polling in 2021: CONTINUED

Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

How the left’s rage at Joe Manchin crystallizes the Democrats’ 2022 dilemma

· Leave a Comment

From the moment Sen. Joe Manchin III started raising concerns about President Biden’s social spending bill, the outrage hurled at him from some fellow Democrats was pointed and personal. …

The intensifying anger directed at Manchin in recent weeks has brought renewed attention to a fundamental divide roiling the Democratic Party over its ideological identity. While Manchin represents an exception among Democrats in Congress — a right-of-center senator from a state that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump — some in the party fear the bitter feelings toward him mirror Democrats’ broader disconnect with voters outside of liberal urban and suburban enclaves.

At stake is whether the Democratic Party in 2022, with control of Congress on the line, has morphed into a far-left force energized by its push for a progressive agenda, or a center-left coalition with a broader appeal in rural and small-town America and other communities with centrist or swing voters. CONTINUED

Tyler Pager, Washington Post

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack