Eric Boehlert: America turns on Trump -- we're not "polarized" after all

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/america-turns-on-trump-were-not-polarized

America turns on Trump — we're not "polarized" after all
Another media myth busted
Eric Boehlert


As Trump's failed presidency limps into the final stages of its first term and he trails Joe Biden by historic margins, a key media myth is being burst right before our eyes. Instead of the deeply "polarized," bitterly divided country the press insists we have become, where every hot-button issue divides the nation by a razor-thin 51-49 margin, we're seeing swelling momentum of agreement. Poll after poll confirms the tide is moving away from Trump and away from the conservative agenda in America.

Picking up the electoral energy that was ignited during the 2018 midterm elections, a wide coalition of voters are not only opposing Trump, but are rejecting Republican initiatives across the board in large numbers. A silent majority of sorts, this partnership is often ignored by the press, which seems wed to the idea of portraying America as being impossibly divided in the age of Trump. In truth, Trump is helping to unite the country.

snip//

This rejection of Republican ideas is across the board:

• Two thirds of Americans (66 percent) say that civilians need to have the power to sue police officers to hold them accountable for misconduct and excessive use of force, even if that makes the officers’ jobs more difficult.

• 62 percent said in a spring 2020 survey that the federal government is doing too little to protect animals and their habitats.

• 72 percent agree that climate change is happening. (Just 12 percent do not agree.)

• Roughly two-thirds of Americans say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change.

• More than two-thirds of Americans now support same-sex marriage -- record-high numbers. That tally jumped nine points in just three years.

• An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91 percent) say marijuana should be legal for medical use, while 59 percent think it should be legal for recreational purposes.

• Just 19 percent of Americans think immigration is a bad thing for the country.

The media obsession with the "polarized" narrative over the years has helped normalize Trump's extremist behavior. So often viewed through the prism of deep partisan divide, there's a suggestion that Democrats urgently oppose Trump simply because he's a Republican, and that any Republican in the Oval Office would be viewed the same way Trump is by his political foes.

Lost in that "polarized" translation is the central fact that Trump's behavior is extreme, undemocratic, and dangerous as he spends months, for example, aggressively trying to undercut public faith in elections.

Trump hasn’t torn America in two equal halves. Most of the country still has its senses.

[Iliyah]

1. Thank you . . .

[hibbing]

2. Wait for the next tea party

A small group of people will get more free press with the impression that it is some massive movement. I remember there were abbot 20 of those tea partv dipsticks having a rally and all the local TV stations were there.

Now it is probably going to be about masks and racism instead of just racism with the teabaggers.

Peace

[dalton99a]

3. And people are literally fucking sick and tired of Trump Trump Trump

[AmericanCanuck]

4. Every word in there is true.

Thanks for posting this.

[kwolf68]

5. Also

Support for Medicare For All is another issue. ON MOST ISSUES, the Left wins handily. This is also part of the reason the Republics are using voter suppression tactics, they see the writing on the wall. Continual support of the oligarchy means the will of the people must be subverted.

[Native]

6. K & R

[crickets]

7. Important media myth busting here. K&R for visibility.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. Exactly! TV and its owners need to promote an almost equal split.