Steve Hayward continues to post more Bill McInturff NBC News longitudinal data. We begin with the amount of polarization in our nation, indicated by attitudes toward the president, held by people of his own, and of the other party. As you can see, over time we have become more polarized.
First takeaway: Barack Obama’s presidency represents a clear break, with a step-increase in party polarization over previous presidents, but Biden is a more polarizing president than Obama. (emphasis in original)The second chart shows disagreement over which issues are important to our nation. I note that the issues are different than formerly and the degree of disagreement has increased.
Increasing polarization over both leaders and issues doesn't bode well for our nation's future. I'll bet if we had data on the extent to which citizens have friends from the other party would show a decline, as well.
The DrsC still do, but those friends live hundreds of miles away. We don't see each other often and, when we do, by tacit agreement we pointedly avoid the minefield of politics.
