[party elites, politicians and donors] have much more radical views than the median voter of their party
This is quite false. The median conservative wants gay marriage made illegal, abortion banned, significantly lower taxes, and does not care about human production of CO2. The median liberal wants men competing in women’s sports, at-will abortion up until birth, wealth re-distribution, and global reductions in CO2 emissions. Yet these views are reflected in few of either party’s senators and congressmen. I wouldn’t take Yglesias’s word on how radical politicians are given most all of what he writes is democratic propaganda.
I find that your first two articles support my position as stated. 22% of republicans believe human activity is contributing a great deal to climate change, and 89% of democrats think the government is doing too little to stop climate change while only 35% of republicans agree. I for the life of me can’t figure out how that jives with the specific questions about extra efforts the government could do, but whatever (if only 35% think the government is doing too little, how could 88% think the government needs to do more??) .
With the abortion article, you should look at the actual pollster’s highlights and not the poorly formatted forbes highlights. https://apnorc.org/projects/public-holds-nuanced-views-about-access-to-legal-abortion/. 64% of republicans believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. 76!!% of democrats think it should be legal in all or most cases. This is a massive contrast and the median for each group lies in the “most” group skewed towards the “all” category.
And these polls are just for people who identify as republican and democrat. Please read my original comment which said ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal.’ If you want to be horrified, be horrified.
In the first poll, I see Republican support for specific measure to reduce CO2 range from 55%-88%. Since the questions deal with specifics, I think they avoid the tribal response and reflect true beliefs as opposed to “belief about beliefs”.
On abortion, I agree that median democrats believes abortion should be legal in all cases, but NOT “up until birth” (low support for trimester).
I would agree that gap between conservative and liberal is large (and where I think a balkanized media is exacerbating the difference). I agree with original statement that many politicians have less radical (in public) views than the median voter because you need attract swing voters to win an election. Hardline politicians can only win in hardline electorates (but gerrymandering can help).
This is quite false. The median conservative wants gay marriage made illegal, abortion banned, significantly lower taxes, and does not care about human production of CO2. The median liberal wants men competing in women’s sports, at-will abortion up until birth, wealth re-distribution, and global reductions in CO2 emissions. Yet these views are reflected in few of either party’s senators and congressmen. I wouldn’t take Yglesias’s word on how radical politicians are given most all of what he writes is democratic propaganda.
Really? I am pretty horrified if either of those describe “median” positions. Doesnt seem to fit with eg:
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/06/23/two-thirds-of-americans-think-government-should-do-more-on-climate/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/06/25/majority-of-americans-support-abortion-poll-finds—but-not-later-in-the-pregnancy/?sh=bfbc45b50744
https://news.gallup.com/poll/350486/record-high-support-same-sex-marriage.aspx
I find that your first two articles support my position as stated. 22% of republicans believe human activity is contributing a great deal to climate change, and 89% of democrats think the government is doing too little to stop climate change while only 35% of republicans agree. I for the life of me can’t figure out how that jives with the specific questions about extra efforts the government could do, but whatever (if only 35% think the government is doing too little, how could 88% think the government needs to do more??) .
With the abortion article, you should look at the actual pollster’s highlights and not the poorly formatted forbes highlights. https://apnorc.org/projects/public-holds-nuanced-views-about-access-to-legal-abortion/. 64% of republicans believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. 76!!% of democrats think it should be legal in all or most cases. This is a massive contrast and the median for each group lies in the “most” group skewed towards the “all” category.
And these polls are just for people who identify as republican and democrat. Please read my original comment which said ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal.’ If you want to be horrified, be horrified.
In the first poll, I see Republican support for specific measure to reduce CO2 range from 55%-88%. Since the questions deal with specifics, I think they avoid the tribal response and reflect true beliefs as opposed to “belief about beliefs”.
On abortion, I agree that median democrats believes abortion should be legal in all cases, but NOT “up until birth” (low support for trimester).
I would agree that gap between conservative and liberal is large (and where I think a balkanized media is exacerbating the difference). I agree with original statement that many politicians have less radical (in public) views than the median voter because you need attract swing voters to win an election. Hardline politicians can only win in hardline electorates (but gerrymandering can help).