Des Moines, Iowa (AP) — Republicans’ outlook on the country’s direction has dramatically deteriorated, according to a new AP-NORC poll last week. Assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
A survey from September shows that the percentage of Republicans who view the country as heading in the right direction has dropped sharply in recent months. Associated Press-NORC Civil Service Research Center. Today, only about half of the GOP are looking at the country on the correct course, starting from 70% in June. This change is even more prominent among Republican women and the party’s under 45 crowd.
Overall, about a quarter of Americans say things are heading in the right direction, falling from about four-tenths of June. Democrats and independents did not shift meaningfully.
An interview with a Republican who conducted the poll suggests that. Political violence And while persistent concerns about social inconsistencies play a role in the prominent change in their mood after a summer hurt by the killing of numbers on both sides of the political spectrum, they also mentioned other concerns such as work, household expenses, and crime.
“I spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and the now disturbing assassination,” said Chris Burle, a 42-year-old Republican from the suburbs of Houston.
“If you had spoken to me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have developed it as my main concern, but it would have been more of a feeling,” the software administrator said. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about, but now it was violence and that was exactly this sense of hostility and division.”
An unusually sharp fall among Republicans
While the view of the country’s direction tends to be rather stable, major events can shatter partisan sentiment about the state of the country, even when their party is in power. Democrats, for example, were more likely to say that the US was heading in the wrong direction after the Supreme Court in June 2022. Roev fell. Wadea groundbreaking decision to establish federal rights for abortion. Democrat Joe Biden was president.
But the shift in the GOP of optimism, especially among young Republicans and GOP women, is notable on its scale. After Republican President Donald Trump, the decline in Republicans saw countries heading in the right direction between October 2020 and December 2020. Lost re-elected bid. The range is more similar to the decline that occurred in the first two months of Covid-19 Pandemic.
The decline is particularly obvious among Republicans under the age of 45. 61% say the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Mostly, Mustafa Robinson, a 42-year-old Republican truck driver, is plagued by Living expensesbut he has been increasingly troubled by what he wants.
“I think you’re heading in the right direction in your career and work, but everything around you is raising prices. You can’t seem to get a break,” said Robinson, a married father of three who lives just southwest of Philadelphia. “But we should be united and united as a nation, and we are not. I’m very confused as to whether we’re not on the same page about anything.
Some have expressed concerns about political violence
Kirk started an Arizona-based political organization Turning Point USA And he was a leader who brings together young conservatives for Trump, and died on September 10th after he was there. Photo taken during an outdoor event At Utah Valley University.
On June 14th, Democrat Melissa Hortman, Minnesota Senator, and her husband I was shot In their suburban Minneapolis home, what authorities called an act of political violence targeted.
In April, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, his family and guests fled the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg after a man broke into the home. I’ll light it It caused great damage. It happens during the Passover Jewish holidays, and Shapiro is Jewish.
Last year, Trump was the target An attempt to assassinate He was at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania during the election campaign. I was shot in the ear.
Worries about political violence are nothing new to many Americans. Last October, an AP-NORC poll found 42% of US adults were “very” and “very” concerned about the possibility of an increase in political violence directed at political figures or election officials in the aftermath of the presidential election.
Trump condemned the “radical left” of Kirk’s murder and discussed pursuing a progressive group accordingly. Without establishing a link to filming last week, he and his administration members discussed categorizing several groups Domestic terroristsfor some, order an assault investigation and revoke tax-free status.
The economy is also a factor
Polls show that views of GOP women have shifted almost as much as those of young Republicans. About three-quarters of Republican women say the country is heading in the wrong direction, starting from 27% in June. In comparison, 56% of Republicans say the country is moving in the wrong direction from 30% in June.
And not everyone who thinks America is on a worrying trajectory has political violence at the very top of their minds. Joclyn Yurchak, 55, from northeastern Pennsylvania, has made it into a list of issues that appear to have put the United States on a downward path.
Yurchak, a warehouse worker, says that when he returns to school for business, it is difficult to find a good job and requires a longer commute. She is troubled by illegal immigration, but she believes Trump has begun to break in and worries about criminal drug activities in her area.
Asked about Kirk and other political targets, Yulchak thought the episode was attributed to a wider fraying of the country’s social structure.
“It’s not just political, it’s all violence. There’s so much crime in the country. It’s annoying,” Yurchak said. “I no longer admire anyone. I’m sad.”
Like others, Minnesota Republican Jeremy Giske first pointed out economic uncertainty as the main reason for his illicit opinion before returning without urging what he called “all political venom.”
“We’re in each other’s throats,” said the 47-year-old product manager at Rogers, just northwest of Minneapolis. “There’s this maliciousness on both sides. We’re making others worse, just like we’re on the brink of social disintegration. Is Kirk breaking the camel’s back or straw leaving the powder barrel? It’s in everyone’s minds.”
___
Sanders reported from Washington.
___
The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted between September 11 and 15 using samples drawn from Norc’s probability-based Amerispeak panel designed to represent the US population. The margin for sampling errors across adults is either positive or negative 3.8 percentage points.
