Even before infecting us, virus has divided us
By Michele L. Norris / Special to The Washington Post
Americans have long been practicing social distancing when it comes to their politics.
While health officials search for a vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus, we need to find a vaccine for toxic partisanship.
Because, at a moment when the United States needs to come together to combat a common enemy, the virus itself has become yet another way to glimpse our cavernous divide.
Weve all been told to practice self-isolation, work from home if possible and wash our hands as if Grandmas life depended on it. But whether you fully embrace these steps depends on your politics: According to a new Pew Research Center study, almost 50 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the outbreak is a major threat to the population. Only 33 percent of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP agree.
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But not everyone sees the threat. Just as President Trump was declaring a national emergency at the end of last week, an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll surveyed registered voters and found their reaction to the Covid-19 virus may make a unified national response impossible. More than 8 in 10 registered Democrats in the NBC-WSJ poll were highly critical of the presidents handling of the crisis, while 9 in 10 registered Republicans approved. Just 30 percent of Republicans in that survey said they had planned to stop attending large public gatherings. The problem for us right now is that we are a nation of tribes, said pollster Peter Hart, whose firm conducted the survey.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/commentary-even-before-infecting-us-virus-has-divided-us/
empedocles
(15,751 posts)The trump/mcturtle corporations first side, will lose ground.
Manchin has it down, corporations v. healthcare
GeorgeGist
(25,294 posts)they'll rob the 99% while the virus has them down.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)what would they be saying right now if it was President Hillary Clinton?
THEY'RE HYPOCRITES, THEY'RE A CULT
Kaiserguy
(740 posts)Lock her up would be mild compared to what they would be saying.