Opinion
At a time when Americans seem to be at each other’s throats, a new poll shows that a large majority are concerned about political violence taking shape in the near future.
Much of the anxiety, at least according to this poll, stems from fears of a repeat of the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.
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’85 percent expressing some degree of concern’
A bit of a disclaimer: the poll is from a Democrat firm, and some of the results about political violence appear to result from the wording of the question, which reads, “How concerned are you that events like those on January 6th, 2021 at the Capitol could happen again?”
The question leaves lots of room for interpretation, but the trepidation Americans are feeling is no doubt genuine.
To the above question, the answers were almost evenly split – one third of Americans in each bucket for “very concerned,” “Somewhat concerned,” and “not at all concerned.”
The Hill reports:
Democrats are slightly more likely to be worried than Republicans about a perceived threat, the pollsters found.
About 86 percent of Democratic respondents say they are concerned over political violence today, compared to 80 percent of Republicans. Ninety-three percent of Democrats said they’re concerned about future political violence, while 79 percent of Republicans said the same.
The poll results showed that Democrats are also more likely to associate terms like “January 6,” “Trump,” and “white supremacy” with the idea of political violence, while Republicans said terms like “fighting,” “riots,” and “Democrats” are more likely to be related. Independents fell somewhere in the middle, mentioning terms such as “riots,” “fighting” and “protests.”
The report added, “Republicans are also perceived as more prone to use political violence to push their agenda, with 47 percent of participants agreeing with the sentiment.”
Perceptions about who might actually cause political violence are obviously skewed along partisan lines.
So is the actual possibility of political violence. Nevertheless, as we all discover, perception is reality to many.
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Hope For Nothing, Expect Anything
Whether we see such violence throughout the 2024 election cycle is something time will tell.
We should all hope it doesn’t happen. We should also be aware that it very well could.
Open political violence has been relatively rare throughout American history, but major episodes like the Civil War or Civil Rights eras show that it does happen. And with these episodes comes major upheaval to American society.
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
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