Cliff Notes on the News

Cliff Notes on the News

Veteran San Diego news director and reporter Cliff Albert shares his thoughts on the latest news and stories each weekday at 7:22am. Full Bio

 

Why We May Not Be as Divided as It Seems

Are we as divided as we are told we are?

That’s a question that has been raised by a poll of Americans that was recently released.

This poll, by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most Americans agree on some big issues.

The researchers say about 90-percent of people, both Republicans and Democrats agree that certain rights and freedoms are very important to them and agree they need to be protected.

They include the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, the right to freedom of religion and freedom of speech and the right to privacy.

This poll doesn’t mean that there is not still a lot of division over a lot of issues, from immigration and inflation to crime and education.

But according to the report by Axios on the results of this poll, it suggests that maybe what has happened is that fringes on the left and the right, in politics, in the media, have helped make it feel as if we are far more divided than we are.

A political science professor told the AP that if you gather together a group of non-extremist people at random and have them talk about issues, you would find they agree on a lot more than you might think they would. In other words, maybe there is some hope.

(Photo Getty Images)

Photo: AFP via Getty Images


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