You guys ready for the surprise of a lifetime? You'll never believe this.
"Americans' trust in political system at new lows."
Yeah, I don't think this surprises anybody in 2023. Let's take a look at these numbers.
- Four times as many Americans [28%] have unfavorable views of both parties today than they did in 2002 — an all-time high, with Republicans and Democrats equally unpopular, the survey found.
- Trust in the government is near a 70-year low, with just 16% of the public saying they trust the federal government at least most of the time.
- Two in three Americans say they always or often feel "exhausted" when they think about politics. The top two words they use to describe U.S. politics are "divisive" and "corrupt."
16% of Americans still trust the government?!?!
Just look at how the discontent with BOTH PARTIES has trended over the years:
Not a great trajectory for our leaders.
A few other items that stuck out to me:
- 37% of 18- to 29-year-olds had unfavorable views of both parties, compared to just 16% of those 65 or older.
Great to see. I like our odds in the future. Keep it up youngins!
And this is huge right here, because I say this all the time, we have so many things in common with those across the aisle, we just gotta figure out what those things are.
There is broad bipartisan agreement on what Americans view as the system's biggest problems.
- For example, 87% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats agreed with the idea that politicians in both parties "are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems."
- Americans want limits on those in government: 87% want term limits and 79% support age limits — a proposition that has gained widespread attention in the face of congressional health scares and concerns about President Biden's age and acuity.
Yeah, we don't agree on many things, but we do agree that our system needs to change. Maybe if we fix the problem of "politicians," which a full 31% of respondents described as the biggest problem with our political system, we'd be able to have the America we all desire. And then we can hash it out from there.
If we continue down the road we're on, however, somebody, one side or the other, is going to have a breakdown and it's gonna get bad.
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