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Trumps environmental rollbacks are deeply unpopular with swing voters
By Zoya Teirstein at the Grist on Feb 26, 2020
https://grist.org/politics/trumps-environmental-rollbacks-are-deeply-unpopular-with-swing-voters/
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It may be hard to tell, but in between jabs at climate science, federal science agencies, and stalwart environmental regulations, President Trump has been trying to position himself as an environmentalist. The presidents efforts to green his image go back as far as 2017, when he told business leaders, and I quote, Im a very big person when it comes to the environment. Do voters agree? New research shows they most certainly do not.
Swing voters in four key states Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Michigan are squarely opposed to Trumps environmental rollbacks. Thats the takeaway from a set of focus groups of dozens of swing voters defined as those who switched their presidential vote from Democratic to Republican, or vice versa, between 2012 and 2016 run by a non-partisan research groups Engagious and Focus Pointe Global.
Unlike polls, the focus groups dont reflect the opinions of a representative sample of likely voters. Instead, they give us a glimpse into the minds of voters whose preferences could determine who will sit in the Oval Office come January. The participants were asked to rate their support for Trumps environmental rollbacks on a scale of 1 to 10 twice: before seeing a list of 17 policies hes gutted and after. (Those 17 policies were pulled from a comprehensive list of rollbacks compiled by the New York Times.) The groups ratings averaged 4.5 before seeing the rollbacks and 3.2 after.
In Florida, a state thats particularly aware of the consequences of rising temperatures and seas, the average dropped to 2.6 after seeing the rollbacks enumerated. Before seeing that list of rollbacks, my hand would have been up 100 percent for Trump, one Florida focus group participant and 2016 Trump supporter said. After seeing it, my hand was not up. Im not 100 percent sold on him. Another participant asked why she supported Trump less after seeing the list of rollbacks, said she didnt know about half of those rollbacks before seeing them. To me, it made a difference to actually see them and process it, she said. Another participant said she didnt expect or want Trump to roll back those regulations, despite voting for him in 2016. Hes supposed to be protecting our country and our world, she said. Hes supposed to be a world leader.
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Andy823
(11,495 posts)a lot more people upset with things trump has done. Some may not vote for a Democrat, some will though, and some who voted for trump last time will sit this one out. As long as he is voted out of office, I will be Happy!