62% of Americans say this

Well you cant say you're voting for the Republican incumbent for President without looking like a whack job, and that's directly on the President. So get a better candidate next time. Trump is bad for the brand. If strategize to win through division, the entire party suffers.

 

Less of a whack job than someone who votes for an ignorant, record setting liar and racist with a dictator complex.

Both sides false equivalence.

I’ll tell you why staunch conservatives are afraid, it’s because the Republican Party has moved on from traditional conservative issues like tax policy, national defense, abortion, morals, strong families, and smaller government and now they’re promoting the confederacy, hate speech, systemic racism, stopping legal immigration, brazen corruption and lying, taking children from illegals, taking away health care, refusing admittance to refugees, changing the nature of America as a nation of immigrants, and now secret police.

 

It's pretty interesting. I like this graph they posted:



It shows that while conservatives are more afraid to speak, the effect of the current atmosphere has been to make everyone (+7) besides the Strong Conservatives (+1) more afraid compared to 2017. And Strong Liberals moreso (+12). I think you're seeing Trump and the Trump-reaction making politics less welcome in polite company, in general.

It's too bad that the study only goes back to 2017 because sphincters had already gotten tight by 2017. It'd have been interesting to see a longer trend line. My guess is that it has always been the case that people have feared sharing their views in roughly these numbers. The Who is Being Oppressed probably moves around.

Morally speaking, I don't think the pressure to conform is necessarily a bad thing. I take this survey as a phenomenon that is, and not necessarily something to be addressed. I'd say some of the asymmetry is the result of conservatives pushing hard on the frame of the Overton window and this fear is the feeling of being outside the pale. "Conservatives" are the more radical end of the spectrum these days. Radicals on the other end have the same issue -- say the socialist types that want UBI -- they also feel this pressure to self-censor, but they aren't as numerous or as presidentially affirmed as the guys who want to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.

 

I agree with op. I dont post my opinion or engage anyone on this outside of here. Obviously my wife and I discuss. I find it funny my son is 11 and gets ads from trump. He was asking me if the world would end if biden was elected. Even at 11 he was laughing but it was an uneasy laugh..

on reddit it is too many people talking.

There are tons of people on facebook and wherever else that look stupid on both sides. Some of these people I have known for years and years and lost all respect for them.

Here is great since houston focused and i dont know you guys from adam...and if you say something stupid I dont have to feel bad for feeling bad that you are my cousin or ex coworker.

Based on op post history I know the implying is that silent majority (repug) schtick they love to run and trust me there are some silent dem voices too biatch.

 

Fine I’ll confess mine:

I hate Marvel movies. Sorry I just think they are silly.

 

What a bunch of snowflakes amirite.

 

are they being threatened with violence or arrest for speaking their mind?

 

So many things can fall into this -

"The Jews control x"
"Mexicans are rapists"
"Muslims are evil"

It's such a broad question that can include anything

 

Folks still supporting this abomination of a president should be ashamed to open their mouths.

 

I don't talk much politics around polite company. Waste of time.

I like hearing out opinions sometimes, but when it's Fox/Cnn headlines, I nod then switch the subject.

 

This is why polls are wrong. People will lie to the random person calling them out of fear of getting fired or canceled or whatever. People simply don't want to open up anymore. Trump's numbers are much higher, I can assure you.

 

There is still a huge conservative voting base that will still vote GOP simply out of fear of what the Dems could do.
DT is not a great POTUS, but will be seen to be preferable to Joe.
I think Dems will win the election, but may end up with a lame duck senate like they did under Obama.

 

James Harden wore a mask he thought looked cool and got criticized for it.

 

I noticed that politics used to stay away from work place, from family gathering and from friends outings. That type of self censorship of political views was, I thought, more of a respect for others, that people have different opinions and they prefer not to debate them or convince them that they are wrong. Whatever it was, I preferred it that way.

With divisiveness on the up and up, I noticed those walls are coming down. There is more highly partisan views expressed in work place, at family gathering and with friends. The need to express one views at the risk of alienating friends and family is happening more often. Sometime that causes heated arguments and fights within closer circle which might be why now there is more fear to express one opinion. I see this not so much an issue with self censorship of political views.. But of an increased level of divisiveness, increased level of hatred toward each other due to difference in views and a strong desire to change other views or promote your views. Root cause is still divineness and hate. And yes, trump is a big driver of this. That shouldn’t be a surprise.

 

When you do polling averages, and when you look at polls over time they are actually pretty informative. No single poll is accurate on its face ever. But polling aggregates can tell you alot.

No... Biden currently having a 15 point lead does not mean as an exact science that if the election was tomorrow Biden would win by 15 points. However if the election was tomorrow, the lead wouldn't be 15 points because of trends closer to election date, and there would be much more accuracy in general. The general public polls were basically spot on in 2016, and in 2018 although in 2016 pundits in the media never factored in electoral advantages which made the win much more shocking even to Trump himself. But the fact is the polls had Hillary by 2 points in the popular poll the day before the election and she won the popular by 3.... so they are pretty damn accurate even if they don't tell the entire story.

So what we need to do is interpret a 15 point lead by Biden in July for what it is, and use our collective knowledge to understand what that means for November. There's no "SECRET" Trump voter per say. We know who these folks are and where they live. We can use logic to understand why now they are blah about Trump in polls, and we can use logic to understand what they'll potentially do in November when they step in the ballot box.

It's not that much of a scandal. But anyone who thinks a 15 point lead for Biden.... even in July.... isn't an issue for Trump's re-election is a damn fool. Trump BARELY won in 2016 so even the slightest margin that flips Dem or surges in Dem voters who didn't show up in 2016 sends Trump back to Mar A Lago a loser.

The biggest question those swing voters will be asking themselves when they step in that ballot box will be "Is my life better now because of Trumpism?".... If you use logic about our current situation as a country that puts Trump's re-election chances as an even greater risk. Polls be damned.