this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2024
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[–] Hegar@fedia.io 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Almost half the country is right wing

Where are you getting that stat?

Of voters, almost half are registered or leaning Republicans.

In 2020, only 22% of the country voted for trump, the most right wing 2 party candidate in the modern era.

When you ask about specific policies that are seen as left or right wing, left wing policies poll much higher than dem votes at elections.

The reason Democrat leadership keeps tacking right has less to do with Americans and more to do with money and support from key centers of power. Dems stay right because US aristocrats and large interests skew righter than Americans. The money would dry up if their policies matched what Americans want.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

per 538, the last two polls of "adults" (not likely voters or registered voters) showed trump support around 40%. And Harris' lead in those polls is basically the same as with likely voters and registered voters, around +3-4.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/?ex_cid=abcpromo

edit:

Also this gallup poll says 30% of people identify as Republican, and 40% as independent, with 46% of independents leaning Republican. So "almost half" as the top comment said.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/Party-Affiliation.aspx

edit 2: for whoever downvoted, I would love to hear why. the person above asked for a source that says "Almost half the country is right wing", and I provided multiple. if you have better evidence to the contrary let's see it.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

per 538, the last two polls of "adults" (not likely voters or registered voters) showed trump support around 40%

This feels to me like the best metric to judge 'right wing' by.

Voting for right wingers or being a Republican is not quite the same as being right wing - many people register and vote strategically. My grandparents in Alaska were left wingers who knew Democrats didn't stand a chance. I'm sure there are plenty of right wingers registered as Dems here in the PNW. Voting can also be about identity more than ideals - I've known Republicans who have mostly leftish ideals as long as you don't call them that.

But saying you personally support trump feels more unambiguously right wing to me. I've heard plenty of polls over the years putting trump's support at around 30-40%, so 40% right wing sounds believable to me.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Also, I acknowledge this is speculation, but I would guess that a significant portion of the undecided people in those polls are conservatives who can't stomach Trump and will never vote democrat. So it's almost certainly more than 40% imo.

[–] Krono 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Your data does not logically lead to your conclusion, because the polls cited naturally bifurcated the responses into two (or three) camps.

It's like if I did a poll asking: "what is your favorite color, purple or yellow?" and then said this proves that 50% of respondents' favorite color is purple. We are discounting the opinions of orange and green lovers.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Your data does not logically lead to your conclusion, because the polls cited naturally bifurcated the responses into two (or three) camps.

are you denying that trump supporters would identify as “ conservative“? Also "undecided" is certainly a catch-all option for people who don't want to vote for Trump or Harris.

It’s like if I did a poll asking: “what is your favorite color, purple or yellow?” and then said this proves that 50% of respondents’ favorite color is purple. We are discounting the opinions of orange and green lovers.

sorry but that's an awful analogy, color preference does not follow a rough spectrum as political ideology does. And again, in your analogy, the orange and green lovers could have chosen undecided.

If you have better data, by all means show it. The polls I linked are certainly more accurate than the person above citing the 2020 election and that only 22% of the US voted for Trump. That is a wildly misleading representation of US demographics.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

edit 2: for whoever downvoted, I would love to hear why.

Probably because you told/showed them what they don't want to hear.