If it wasn’t already evident before, a new study is underlining just how important next year’s Presidential election is viewed in the minds of a vast majority of Americans.
In a poll conducted throughout August by the Public Religion Research Institute, 77% of Americans said they believe democracy is at risk depending on the outcome of a race whose frontrunners are both divisive choices, answering that they believe America is “going in the wrong direction.”
That total includes a whopping 90% of Republicans who feel that way and 81% of independents, along with more than half of all Democrats (59%).
A large majority of Republicans – 73% – believe America’s culture and “way of life” has changed “for the worse” since the 1950s, with just 34% of Democrats holding that belief. Overall, 55% of America believe life was better 70 years ago.
Interestingly, that belief seems tied to where Americans get their news, or if they don’t get any at all.
Among Americans who choose to get their news from far-right sources, 89% believe life in the U.S. was better before the civil rights movement and societal upheavals of the 1960s. 71% of Fox News watchers share that belief, as do 58% of people who don’t watch television news at all.
Only 45% of people who watch “mainstream news” hold that belief.
It’s also a belief that holds less weight depending on the age of respondents. A distinct longing for the past was present in 67% of the Silent Generation, 60% of Baby Boomers and 58% of Generation X, but just 49% of Millennials and Generation Z.
There was also an increase in the last two years in Americans who believe physical violence may be called for to preserve America’s freedoms.
A total of 23% of all Americans thinks violence may be necessary, up from 15% in 2021. That total includes 33% of Republicans (up from 28%), 22% of independents (up from 13%) and 13% of Democrats (up from 7%).
The same survey showed President Joe Biden languishing at a 40% approval rating, but the contrast between the two parties is stark: 83% of Democrats and just 7% of Republicans think Biden has fared well in the White House.
Among a listed field of eight possible Presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump elicited the strongest opinions on both sides of the coin. He led all candidates in terms of hardcore support with 18% of all respondents saying they had a “very favorable” opinion of Trump. President Joe Biden came in second with 12%. No one else cracked double-digits.
But the dislike was as strong as the like for Trump, who was viewed as “very unfavorable” by 50% of those surveyed. Meanwhile, 44% of those polled viewed Biden as “very unfavorable.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also had over 40% registering extreme dislike at 42%.