A national poll found that 61 percent of Americans hope to avoid discussing politics with their loved ones during this week’s Thanksgiving holiday. Only 29 percent said they looked forward to talking about politics.
According to the poll, only 9 percent of respondents said the U.S. political landscape over the past year has made them feel better about discussing politics during the holiday, 30 percent said they felt worse, and 59 percent believed it had not changed their view about politics.
“A healthy dose of ‘zip it’ will be on the menu as voters acknowledge that if they plan on ’talking turkey' over the big meal, it will be about the food and not about politics,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
“Arguing about politics may be Americans’ least favorite Thanksgiving activity, but it may actually serve an important function in our body politic,” Cliff Young, Ipsos’ president of U.S. Public Affairs, told Axios at the time.
Politically Divided Americans
Americans have long shown their widespread dissatisfaction with politicians and the federal government. A poll by the Pew Research Center in September found Americans had negative attitudes toward the nation’s politics and deep political division.When asked how they feel about politics these days, 65 percent of Americans said they always or frequently felt exhausted when thinking about politics, and 55 percent felt angry. In contrast, only 10 percent say they often or all the time felt hopeful about politics, and less than 4 percent felt excited.
Seventy-nine percent described politics as “divisive” and “corrupt,” while only 2 percent used favorable terms when describing politics.
The poll found that partisan divisions were so deep that Americans held more negative views toward those on the other side of the political aisle compared with decades ago.
Today, 72 percent of Republicans consider Democrats more immoral than other Americans, while 63 percent of Democrats hold the same views about Republicans. In the 2016 poll, 47 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of Democrats said so about the other party.
Significant majorities within both parties characterized those from the opposing party as more closed-minded compared to other Americans, with 83 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans holding this view. This sentiment has been on the rise in recent years.
The U.S. public also remained strongly critical of the impact of partisan polarization on the political landscape, as 86 percent agreed that “Republicans and Democrats were more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems.”
Most voters (57 percent) also said that conflicts between Republicans and Democrats attract too much attention, while 78 percent believed that major issues facing the country got little focus.
Negative public views about the two parties were growing as 28 percent of Americans held unfavorable views of the Republican and Democratic parties, significantly higher than only 6 percent in 1994.
Both parties lacked substantial popularity among the public, as 37 percent held a positive view of the Democratic Party, and a similar share (36 percent) had a favorable view of the Republican Party.
The poll also found that only 4 percent of Americans believe the political system is functioning extremely or very well, while 23 percent considered it somewhat effective. A significant majority, 63 percent, said they had little or no confidence in the future of the U.S. political system.
