A highly concerning development underscoring the seismic rift in American society has been exposed.
A new poll shows both Republicans and Democrats are gravely concerned the other side will seek to “overturn” the results of the next presidential election.
Suspecting One Other
There is little the GOP and the Democrats agree on these days.
However, according to a poll by The New Republic, both see eye to eye on two things: American democracy is in terrible condition and the other side is to blame for it.
The poll shows that a whopping 74% of Americans view the political system of the United States of America as “threatened.”
With still lingering doubts about the fairness of the 2020 presidential election, both sides worry their opponents could be after an “overturning” of the next election results.
Thus, 70% of Democrats said they worry Republicans will seek to overturn the next presidential election of the declared winner is the Democrat candidate.
The share of Republicans who worry about the same scenario, with the roles reversed, i.e. that a Republican declared the winner could fall prey to a Democrat coup, is even higher, at 79%.
The poll also found that 74% of Republican supporters think the prospect of Democrats committing election fraud is a major threat to US democracy.
Interestingly, the poll shows 34% of all Democrats are also worried their own party could commit election fraud. The rest, 66%, say there is no such threat to the American political system.
Most Democrats, on the other hand, are raging over the electoral security legislation adopted by many Republican-led states in the wake of the 2020 presidential vote.
According to 85% of Democrat voters, the GOP is making it “harder to vote.” To the contrary, 84% of Republican voters deny that.
NBC POLL: Midterms Enthusiasm
October 2021: R+11
January 2022: R+14
NOW: REPUBLICANS +17
The last time the enthusiasm gap was this wide, in 2010, Democrats lost more than 60 seats in the House
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) April 14, 2022
Both Worry About ‘Political Violence’
The survey found the American electorate to be highly polarized and divided over the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol by a crowd of supporters of President Trump.
Most Republican respondents – 57% – espouse the view of those who entered the Capitol – namely that the move was an “act of patriotism” in defense of American democracy.
A total of 42% of the Republican voters, however, still view the events of 1/6 negatively.
For Democrat voters, the picture is more clear-cut. 88% condemn the events at the US Capitol as a “riot” or “insurrection”.
It is worth noting, though, that 12% of the Democrat electorate are still found to consider the events as an “act of patriotism,” like the majority of the GOP voters.
As both the Republican Party and Democrat Party view each other as the major threat to democracy in the United States, majorities on both sides of the political aisle are plain worried about the “trajectory” of the country in the next ten to 20 years.
That goes for 75% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats, according to the poll results. Both of these groups are gravely concerned about the “possibility of political violence.”
Over 80% of the Democrats consider President Trump’s claims about the rigging of the 2020 presidential election as a “threat to democracy”, while over 80% of the Republicans affirm the contrary.
