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The author, Arthur Brooks, is the past president of a Republican thinktank, AEI. Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the politi

• SV_BubbleTime 6y ago
  > [Republican] policies are deeply unpopular Well, this is demonstrably untrue with people at large. You know, about 50% of the country or so. Are you sure you are thinking outside of your bubble. Those polices may be unpopular with you or I but clearly people support right-wing polices.
  • mhneu 6y ago
    Republican voters believe lies about the Republican agenda. Take for example pre-existing condition protections. Republicans want to cut pre-existing condition protections. Between 2010 and 2016 Republicans passed over 50 repeal bills. They have no replacement. Now they are fighting in court to cut these protections. And they have lied about it. They say they don't want to cut them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/01/trumps-health-care-stance-is-so-bad-that-his-voters-cant-believe-he-holds-it/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/01/trumps-he... And this pattern repeats for many policies - tax cuts for the wealthy, trade policies, minimum wage suppression. Republican politicians have to lie about what they're doing because their policies are unpopular. So Republican voters believe lies.
• rayiner 6y ago
  > Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. Republicans rely on a non-engaged citizenry for votes. Conservatives outnumber liberals in every age bracket above 30, among both men and women, in every income bracket, among every education class except folks with post-graduate degrees, in every region, and among both non-Hispanic white and Hispanic people: https://news.gallup.com/poll/275792/remained-center-right-ideologically-2019.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/275792/remained-center-right-id....
  • js2 6y ago
    OP said Republican policies, which you reframed as conservative vs liberal, while ignoring the middle moderate column. Many conservative and even some moderate voters might prefer to vote Republican but are uncomfortable doing so due to the current Republican platform which is not only not conservative, but also unwelcoming to anyone but straight white men and their allies. On GOP policies: > GOP leads on the economy but trails on other issues, including the coronavirus. By 49% to 40%, registered voters are more likely to say the Republican Party, rather than the Democratic Party, can do a better job on the economy. The Democratic Party holds wide leads on several issues, including climate change, abortion and contraception, health care, issues involving race and ethnicity, and handling the public health impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly half of voters (47%) say the Democratic Party could do a better job in handling the public health impact of the coronavirus outbreak, compared with 35% who say the GOP could do better. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/08/13/election-2020-voters-are-highly-engaged-but-nearly-half-expect-to-have-difficulties-voting/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/08/13/election-202...
  • dragonwriter 6y ago
    > > Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. > Conservatives outnumber liberals Perhaps, but “people who identify as conservative” and “people who support Republicans’ concrete policies” have no necessary relation.
  • tracer4201 6y ago
    I don’t classify myself as liberal, although I voted for Democrats in the ballot I dropped off today — for everything except for my state’s treasurer and secretary. My point is that conservatives or liberals don’t necessarily outnumber one or the other in the way you’ve generalized across all these dimensions. If that were the case, conservatives wouldn’t need to rely on the electoral college to win Presidential elections.