The Majority of Americans have no Representation in Government
While most people consider themselves solid Democrats or Republicans, neither party actually comes close to representing the policy views that a great number of Americans hold. The Democrats, at least rhetorically speaking, are on the left half of the spectrum on both economic and social issues. The Republicans have moved so far to the right on both sets of issues that they barely fit onto the spectrum. However, when it actually comes time to vote, most members of both parties are more similar to the nation’s 3rd largest party- the Libertarians, meaning that they’re all quite conservative on economic issues, while occasionally leaning to the left on social policy. Libertarians certainly deserve to be represented, but what about those with the opposite set of viewpoints? I’m talking about folks who are progressive on economic issues, but are more moderate or outright conservative on social issues.
The main set of policies I’m referring to here include; Medicare for All, Free public college tuition, a substantial minimum wage increase, cutting back on “free trade” deals, supporting unions, providing additional funding for public education, enforcing antitrust laws, and a “wealth tax” on the top 1%. The only members of Congress who support a single one of these policies, let alone all of them, are Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the “Squad”, and a handful of other Democrats in the House. However, all of these representatives are also strongly liberal on social policy, and because the culture war has gotten so heated in recent years, those are the issues that are most frequently highlighted. Republicans, on the other hand, are openly dismissive of those popular economic ideas. Certain so called “populists” like Sen. Josh Hawley will occasionally pay lip service to reeling in corporate control, but ultimately, even he voted against the amendment to raise the federal minimum wage to $15. I believe that Hawley had real potential to be the face of the future GOP, but he has squandered that opportunity with recent decisions (more on that in a future article).
Each one of these policy proposals consistently garners a majority (>50%) support in poll after poll. Medicare for All is one of the most popular ideas in the country, with roughly 70% of voters supporting the policy on a consistent basis. Even a Fox News poll of voters found strong support-
The same can be said for a wealth tax. Voters on all sides of the aisle generally support lowering the massive income gap between the 1% and everyone else, as well as restraining the immense amount of power that multi-national corporations hold. It’s important to note that this particular poll, as well as many others, show bipartisan support, with this example showing that 57% of Republicans support the wealth tax.
On the other hand, when we think about social conservatism in policy, the topics that most frequently come up are the issues of guns, abortion and immigration. Now, the polling is much more mixed here. Gallup polling on all three can be found here, here, and here. Feel free to make your own judgements on the data, but my takeaway is that generally Americans are open to small reforms, but any mention of a radical change in policy is met with hostility. This is where those progressive politicians mentioned earlier open themselves up to harsh criticism from people who might otherwise be allies, if the focus was on economics. For example, 74% of respondents would not support a law that bans handguns. People who are pro choice that say abortion should only be available “under certain circumstances” outnumber those who don’t believe in restrictions, and 60% say they worry about illegal immigration “a great deal” or “a fair amount”.
This is the future of politics if we have any interest in unifying the country behind policy goals that will benefit all of us in the long run, and give our country new life. Politicians would be wise to consider using this sort of platform, particularly in swing states across the Midwest and South. You never know, you might give thousands, or millions of new voters hope that they lost long ago.
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