A new CATO Institute/YouGov national survey found 62% of Americans say the political climate today prevents them from saying what they believe. This is up several points from 2017 when 58% of Americans said they were afraid to share their political beliefs.These fears are not groundless for those who are employed or seeking employment, or are students or seeking admission to college or university. Taken together, these constitute a huge segment of the electorate.
“31% of liberals, 30% of moderates and 34% of conservatives are worried their political views could get them fired or harm their career trajectory,” the CATO survey stated.
In Britain they call those fearing retribution for their views "shy Tories." We might call ours "shy Republicans."
Now do you understand why political polling is often unreliable? A voice on the phone - claiming to be a pollster asking about your political beliefs - could be anyone. Maybe it's someone working for your boss, spying on your politics before deciding who to layoff.
The mainstream media has made clear to anyone paying attention what the "right" or PC answer is. In 2016 when Clinton was that year's "right answer," people lied through their teeth to pollsters.
They said they'd support Clinton when they knew they'd vote for Trump. Viola, the November surprise which shocked the crying pundits on TV.
I wouldn't recommend betting a lot against a similar outcome this November. This CATO poll almost guarantees it happening.
