The news this week has revolved around the broader meaning of the House Republicans’ removal of Liz Cheney as their caucus chair. Polling suggests most Republican voters will be fine with this:
An Economist/YouGov survey published Wednesday found that 61% of GOP voters had an unfavorable opinion of Liz Cheney.
An Ipsos poll finds that half of Republicans want the party “to be molded” after Donald Trump.
Roughly 70-75% of Republicans continue to think Joe Biden stole the election from the former president.
Cable and print journalism has also been speculating about the potential effects of the CDC’s new unmasking rules.
The good news is that vaccinated people won’t spread the virus if they take off their masks, which roughly 40% might do now that the government has given them permission. 45% of Democrats say they’ll stop masking outdoors now.
The bad news is that unvaccinated people are already using the CDC order as an excuse to go without their masks. And 30% of people say they’re comfortable gathering indoors with unvaccinated people, which the CDC still says they shouldn’t do.
Those are polls on the big stories of the past week.
I accept the hard truth that one of the two major political parties doesn't believe in democracy. 70-75% of Republicans don't believe in democracy. While polarization makes this impossible, Democrats need to have huge Electoral College victories like they did during the Fifth Party System to change the status quo. This would hopefully force Republicans to change (they are far more likely to try to overturn election results than change). I'm not sure of a solution besides massive reforms to the Constitution like getting rid of the Electoral College, rank choice voting, getting rid of the Senate or at least have nationally elected Senators, getting rid of the filibuster, and having a weaker executive.
Elliott, what do you think are the most successful ways to diminish the voting and cultural power of the 75% of GOP voters who continue to believe the big lie? Dose them with psilocybin? Incarceration? Re-education labor camps? Ignore them? Withhold paying work? Destroy their social media sites? Yeah, I don't think so either. So, what have we got? Does history show us anything useful? Per polling, we know where they live, we know approximately how many of them there are. But thinking beyond Now, what about their children?
Hi Elliott,
I accept the hard truth that one of the two major political parties doesn't believe in democracy. 70-75% of Republicans don't believe in democracy. While polarization makes this impossible, Democrats need to have huge Electoral College victories like they did during the Fifth Party System to change the status quo. This would hopefully force Republicans to change (they are far more likely to try to overturn election results than change). I'm not sure of a solution besides massive reforms to the Constitution like getting rid of the Electoral College, rank choice voting, getting rid of the Senate or at least have nationally elected Senators, getting rid of the filibuster, and having a weaker executive.
I hope you are having a good weekend,
Elliot
What do you think it means that half of Republicans *don't* want the party molded after Trump? Do you think that could cause problems for the party?
Elliott, what do you think are the most successful ways to diminish the voting and cultural power of the 75% of GOP voters who continue to believe the big lie? Dose them with psilocybin? Incarceration? Re-education labor camps? Ignore them? Withhold paying work? Destroy their social media sites? Yeah, I don't think so either. So, what have we got? Does history show us anything useful? Per polling, we know where they live, we know approximately how many of them there are. But thinking beyond Now, what about their children?