Democrats and Republicans Both Seen as Too Extreme

[Bismarck]

Many posters on here genuinely believe that Democrats are the morally upright and only legitimate political party, and that Republicans are an illegitimate party that is fascist, authoritarian, and anti-American. The poll referred to in this thread certainly demonstrates how far apart this forum's members are from the majority of Americans, in terms of how they view the world.

I mean in practically every developed country, the Democratic Party would be considered normal and the Republican Party would be seen as an extremist party.

Only in this country can the Democratic Party somehow be considered "extreme"....to some people. Also, this is just one poll. One poll isn't definitive.

Furthermore, this poll didn't ask anyone if they thought that "X party was extreme or not". It just showed that some independents think that there should be more moderates in both parties. What a surprise!

This is repeated over and over again but I don’t think it’s true. It may be true for healthcare and guns. The biggest thing conservatives point to as being extreme is the anti-patriotism and wokism of the American left and I can’t find many countries where the ideas of the woke wouldn’t be seen as out of the mainstream. Canada of course but where else can you develop a whole worldview around the idea that your own country and culture is fundamentally bad and illegitimate? Or the idea that criminals aren’t responsible for their crimes? Or the idea that it’s compassionate to let public spaces turn into open air drug market tent camps?

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Including the Democratic Party? 😳

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

This is repeated over and over again but I don’t think it’s true. It may be true for healthcare and guns. The biggest thing conservatives point to as being extreme is the anti-patriotism and wokism of the American left and I can’t find many countries where the ideas of the woke wouldn’t be seen as out of the mainstream. Canada of course but where else can you develop a whole worldview around the idea that your own country and culture is fundamentally bad and illegitimate? Or the idea that criminals aren’t responsible for their crimes? Or the idea that it’s compassionate to let public spaces turn into open air drug market tent camps?

The Democratic Party doesn't believe ANY of those things

Also, the Republican Party's positions on abortion, the LGBT and climate change would be viewed as extreme in every developed country. Not just guns and healthcare.

[jojoju1998]

Many posters on here genuinely believe that Democrats are the morally upright and only legitimate political party, and that Republicans are an illegitimate party that is fascist, authoritarian, and anti-American. The poll referred to in this thread certainly demonstrates how far apart this forum's members are from the majority of Americans, in terms of how they view the world.

I mean in practically every developed country, the Democratic Party would be considered normal and the Republican Party would be seen as an extremist party.

Only in this country can the Democratic Party somehow be considered "extreme"....to some people. Also, this is just one poll. One poll isn't definitive.

Furthermore, this poll didn't ask anyone if they thought that "X party was extreme or not". It just showed that some independents think that there should be more moderates in both parties. What a surprise!

This is repeated over and over again but I don’t think it’s true. It may be true for healthcare and guns. The biggest thing conservatives point to as being extreme is the anti-patriotism and wokism of the American left and I can’t find many countries where the ideas of the woke wouldn’t be seen as out of the mainstream. Canada of course but where else can you develop a whole worldview around the idea that your own country and culture is fundamentally bad and illegitimate? Or the idea that criminals aren’t responsible for their crimes? Or the idea that it’s compassionate to let public spaces turn into open air drug market tent camps?

I didn't know that Democrats thought our Military sucked and that John Mccain was not a War hero.

[OSR stands with Israel]

This is repeated over and over again but I don’t think it’s true. It may be true for healthcare and guns. The biggest thing conservatives point to as being extreme is the anti-patriotism and wokism of the American left and I can’t find many countries where the ideas of the woke wouldn’t be seen as out of the mainstream. Canada of course but where else can you develop a whole worldview around the idea that your own country and culture is fundamentally bad and illegitimate? Or the idea that criminals aren’t responsible for their crimes? Or the idea that it’s compassionate to let public spaces turn into open air drug market tent camps?

The Democratic Party doesn't believe ANY of those things

Also, the Republican Party's positions on abortion, the LGBT and climate change would be viewed as extreme in every developed country. Not just guns and healthcare.

The UK is to the right of the US on trans issues so this is false. On Climate Change the CDN Tories basically hold the same position as the GOP and abortion like I mentioned is cause America is more religious overall .

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

The UK is to the right of the US on trans issues so this is false. On Climate Change the CDN Tories basically hold the same position as the GOP and abortion like I mentioned is cause America is more religious overall .

Semantics as per usual. Regardless, my point very much still stands.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The Student loans that's was supposed to give Ds the big boost in the Midterms haven't even launched yet, what happened to the 20K Student Loan Discharge and most people that are getting a Student Loan Discharge are on a Forbearance or 0.00 IDR anyways

The Rs keep trying to sue and most people that gets those student loans Discharge especially if you are near or below the poverty pays 0.00 it's called income driven repayment whereas if you have too low income you don't pay anyways, that's so silly to try to stop Debt Forgiveness and we have Debt Forgiveness under Bankruptcy, I haven't paid my pay day loans and they haven't sued me yet he because if Federal Bankruptcy Laws

[Bismarck]

This is repeated over and over again but I don’t think it’s true. It may be true for healthcare and guns. The biggest thing conservatives point to as being extreme is the anti-patriotism and wokism of the American left and I can’t find many countries where the ideas of the woke wouldn’t be seen as out of the mainstream. Canada of course but where else can you develop a whole worldview around the idea that your own country and culture is fundamentally bad and illegitimate? Or the idea that criminals aren’t responsible for their crimes? Or the idea that it’s compassionate to let public spaces turn into open air drug market tent camps?

The Democratic Party doesn't believe ANY of those things

Also, the Republican Party's positions on abortion, the LGBT and climate change would be viewed as extreme in every developed country. Not just guns and healthcare.

LGBT definitely not. Unless you only consider countries in northwestern Europe to be developed. Abortion depends. The complete ban would be radical in most countries but a 15 week limit would not.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

So, the big launch for Student Loans Discharge is failing to live up to expectations because they haven't launched it yet, if we underperform it's the younger voters I saw some of the Early voting, and D turnout was down already, what I mean by underperforming is losing the H and winning 53/47 Senate WI, PA and UT not losing the blue wall, if we don't win big it's because of under 30 yr olds turnout that failed to show up in 2010/14 that's why we lost 60 seats in H and lost S in 2014 but it won't be that low where only 95 M votes it's already gonna be a 65/60 M Eday not an 80/75M Eday anyways

That's why it's a 303 map we Ds outnumbering Rs by 5 M because we have 9M patrons around metros LA, Chi, and NY

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

LGBT definitely not. Unless you only consider countries in northwestern Europe to be developed. Abortion depends. The complete ban would be radical in most countries but a 15 week limit would not.

If it were up to Republicans, same-sex marriage would be illegal. That would be extreme in most developed countries except for a few (like Italy, South Korea, Japan, etc).

Also, like you said a complete ban on abortion, which is something that many/most Republicans want is extreme in most developed countries.

[dead0man]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

you can't blame the funding.  Maybe, just maybe, it's the people running the various education systems in the US?

[Bismarck]

LGBT definitely not. Unless you only consider countries in northwestern Europe to be developed. Abortion depends. The complete ban would be radical in most countries but a 15 week limit would not.

If it were up to Republicans, same-sex marriage would be illegal. That would be extreme in most developed countries except for a few (like Italy, South Korea, Japan, etc).

Also, like you said a complete ban on abortion, which is something that many/most Republicans want is extreme in most developed countries.

I don’t think most republicans want to ban same sex marriage now. Same sex marriage is pretty new in almost every country and some countries like Japan don’t have it still so I don’t think a party where a large minority or maybe a slight plurality oppose that is very abnormal.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

LGBT definitely not. Unless you only consider countries in northwestern Europe to be developed. Abortion depends. The complete ban would be radical in most countries but a 15 week limit would not.

If it were up to Republicans, same-sex marriage would be illegal. That would be extreme in most developed countries except for a few (like Italy, South Korea, Japan, etc).

Also, like you said a complete ban on abortion, which is something that many/most Republicans want is extreme in most developed countries.

I don’t think most republicans want to ban same sex marriage now. Same sex marriage is pretty new in almost every country and some countries like Japan don’t have it still so I don’t think a party where a large minority or maybe a slight plurality oppose that is very abnormal.

I literally said that Japan is one of the few developed countries where SSM is illegal.

Furthermore, like I said, IF IT WERE UP TO Republicans, SSM would be banned in America. That's not even a debate.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

This is a thread where Atlas is really showing how much of a Democrat echo-chamber it is LOL

Atlas:  "Democrats couldn't POSSIBLY be extreme!  They agree with all MY positions!"

Many posters on here genuinely believe that Democrats are the morally upright and only legitimate political party, and that Republicans are an illegitimate party that is fascist, authoritarian, and anti-American. The poll referred to in this thread certainly demonstrates how far apart this forum's members are from the majority of Americans, in terms of how they view the world.

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

If "critical thinking" just means being able to criticize Republicans, that doesn't require a lot of money.  Most school teachers are fairly liberal already, so they should be able to come up with something to tell the kids.  On the other hand they could spend that time teaching reading, writing, math, sciences, arts, and physical activity.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

This is a thread where Atlas is really showing how much of a Democrat echo-chamber it is LOL

Atlas:  "Democrats couldn't POSSIBLY be extreme!  They agree with all MY positions!"

Many posters on here genuinely believe that Democrats are the morally upright and only legitimate political party, and that Republicans are an illegitimate party that is fascist, authoritarian, and anti-American. The poll referred to in this thread certainly demonstrates how far apart this forum's members are from the majority of Americans, in terms of how they view the world.

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

If anything, private schools are more likely to teach critical thinking skills.

[Hammy]

Republicans: only elections we win are legitimate and if we don't win we're going to shoot people and we're going to have forced birth and we're going to force kids to learn about Christopher Columbus (just the good stuff) but not that racism exists

Democrats: sometimes you have to call someone by their preferred pronouns and maybe a few more people can have health care

Moderates: these are the same

I've never understood why so many leftists (and right wingers for that matter) think 'Moderates' and 'Centrists' are the worst political affiliation.

Because centrists think asking people to be respectful towards others, and committing violence because your side lost an election, is somehow two equally bad things.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

This is a thread where Atlas is really showing how much of a Democrat echo-chamber it is LOL

Atlas:  "Democrats couldn't POSSIBLY be extreme!  They agree with all MY positions!"

Many posters on here genuinely believe that Democrats are the morally upright and only legitimate political party, and that Republicans are an illegitimate party that is fascist, authoritarian, and anti-American. The poll referred to in this thread certainly demonstrates how far apart this forum's members are from the majority of Americans, in terms of how they view the world.

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

If anything, private schools are more likely to teach critical thinking skills.

Not the private school I went to.

[T'Chenka]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

Everyone needs to be taught to critically think in schools. Then they will agree with me. If they do not agree with me, they clearly haven't done enough thinking.

If you have an opinion or political position that is the opposite of mine, but you can explain it and defend it using logic and reason, then you are critically thinking. Some Republicans do this, and I applaud them for that, despite not agreeing with them.

Of the tens and tens of millions of people that vote Republican, a lot of them lack critical thinking skills, objective analysis skills and the ability to avoid confirmation bias.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

Everyone needs to be taught to critically think in schools. Then they will agree with me. If they do not agree with me, they clearly haven't done enough thinking.

If you have an opinion or political position that is the opposite of mine, but you can explain it and defend it using logic and reason, then you are critically thinking. Some Republicans do this, and I applaud them for that, despite not agreeing with them.

Of the tens and tens of millions of people that vote Republican, a lot of them lack critical thinking skills, objective analysis skills and the ability to avoid confirmation bias.

In other words they are just like everyone else.

[T'Chenka]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

Everyone needs to be taught to critically think in schools. Then they will agree with me. If they do not agree with me, they clearly haven't done enough thinking.

If you have an opinion or political position that is the opposite of mine, but you can explain it and defend it using logic and reason, then you are critically thinking. Some Republicans do this, and I applaud them for that, despite not agreeing with them.

Of the tens and tens of millions of people that vote Republican, a lot of them lack critical thinking skills, objective analysis skills and the ability to avoid confirmation bias.

In other words they are just like everyone else.

Somewhat but no. Studies have shown that conservatives think differently than people who aren't conservatives. They are less likely to learn critical thinking skills, for various reasons, including their own lack of desire to do so.

Look at how many politically-engaged people vote Democrat but refuse to identify as Democrats, and then compare it to how many politically-engaged people vote Republican but refuse to identify as Republicans. Right wingers are more likely to conform and less likely to be independent thinkers.

[Mr. Smith]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

Everyone needs to be taught to critically think in schools. Then they will agree with me. If they do not agree with me, they clearly haven't done enough thinking.

If you have an opinion or political position that is the opposite of mine, but you can explain it and defend it using logic and reason, then you are critically thinking. Some Republicans do this, and I applaud them for that, despite not agreeing with them.

Of the tens and tens of millions of people that vote Republican, a lot of them lack critical thinking skills, objective analysis skills and the ability to avoid confirmation bias.

In other words they are just like everyone else.

Somewhat but no. Studies have shown that conservatives think differently than people who aren't conservatives. They are less likely to learn critical thinking skills, for various reasons, including their own lack of desire to do so.

Look at how many politically-engaged people vote Democrat but refuse to identify as Democrats, and then compare it to how many politically-engaged people vote Republican but refuse to identify as Republicans. Right wingers are more likely to conform and less likely to be independent thinkers.

Actually that one's just an indictment of Democrats not being a true left-wing opposition that equally takes no prisoners.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

If school funding and education was better in America, more people would learn critical thinking skills in school and would therefore be more likely to open up their eyes to this. Republicans know this, and it's one of the reasons they promote private schooling and defunding public schools (along with other reasons).

Everyone needs to be taught to critically think in schools. Then they will agree with me. If they do not agree with me, they clearly haven't done enough thinking.

If you have an opinion or political position that is the opposite of mine, but you can explain it and defend it using logic and reason, then you are critically thinking. Some Republicans do this, and I applaud them for that, despite not agreeing with them.

Of the tens and tens of millions of people that vote Republican, a lot of them lack critical thinking skills, objective analysis skills and the ability to avoid confirmation bias.

In other words they are just like everyone else.

Somewhat but no. Studies have shown that conservatives think differently than people who aren't conservatives. They are less likely to learn critical thinking skills, for various reasons, including their own lack of desire to do so.

Look at how many politically-engaged people vote Democrat but refuse to identify as Democrats, and then compare it to how many politically-engaged people vote Republican but refuse to identify as Republicans. Right wingers are more likely to conform and less likely to be independent thinkers.

I would be interested to see what studies you are looking at that compare critical thinking skills to political views.

On party identification, I don't know what point you are trying to make.  Going all the way back to FDR, more Americans have tended to identify as Democrats than Republican, even when Republicans actually won elections.  In the recent past it's been closer between Democrats and Republicans but there are way more Independents now than either Democrats or Republicans. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/party-id-trend/
But I'm not sure what all this has to do with anyone supposedly not being independent thinkers.

[T'Chenka]

I would be interested to see what studies you are looking at that compare critical thinking skills to political views.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conservative-and-liberal-brains-might-have-some-real-differences/

Liberals proved more attentive to incongruent information, especially for Democratic candidates. When they encountered such a position, it took them longer to make a decision about whether it was good or bad. They were likely to show activation for incongruent information in two brain regions: the insula and anterior cingulate cortex, which “are involved in helping people form and think about their attitudes,” Haas says. How do out-of-the-ordinary positions affect later voting? Haas suspects that engaging more with such information might make voters more likely to punish candidates for it later. But she acknowledges that they may instead exercise a particular form of bias called “motivated reasoning” to downplay the incongruity.


https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/06/04/ohio-state-university-study-conservatives-liberal-political-misinformation/7524485002/

Garrett said the study doesn't necessarily prove that conservatives are more biased than liberals, because all participants believed statements that boosted their political party — and rejected those that didn't. But claims that benefited Republicans were more likely to be false, while true statements frequently furthered Democratic interests.

This puts conservatives at a disadvantage because they're ultimately exposed to more misinformation, Garrett said, and confirmation bias makes them more inclined to buy what they see. It's not clear why false information is more favorable to Republicans.

"Conservatives’ consistently poor performance in distinguishing truths from falsehoods appears to be largely explained by the fact that widely shared falsehoods were systematically more supportive of conservatives’ political positions," the authors wrote.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It's very likely 224/211 RH and 52/47/1 D Senate but OH, NC, UT and IA are Tossups but that's the blue map, but I am optimistic not a Doomer so if that's the case Ds will win again in 24/26/28 FL R seats with Scott is vulnerable and WVA if Justice runs for Senate and 2026 ME is vulnerable if I was Bullock I would run again in MT in 26 and of course Ernst is vulnerable

So the Senate map is the opposite of the H map but with an R narrow majority not a 2/3rds majority like 241 they can easily lose the H again