Over the last few weeks, I’ve poked at a lot of polls and called them BS. I’ve noted, for example, how universal background checks tend to poll pretty well, but then in states that put them before voters, they failed to pass. That’s because so many polls ask generalized questions that sound good to the uninitiated, but when the rubber meets the road, folks are less than impressed.
However, there’s another factor that the polls aren’t taking into account.
See, politicians are banking a lot on polls. They see the polling numbers and think, “We can get away with this because the public likes this idea.”
Yet there’s more to any policy than whether people support something.
President Biden will find it difficult — if not impossible — to get bipartisan support in Congress for new gun control measures, like a new assault weapons ban, which passed with bipartisan support in 1994 and expired ten years later.
He’s not wrong, actually. I’ve said as much before.
Think about the bills before the Senate right now. There are Republicans who have come out in favor of universal background checks or, at least, expanding background checks. There have been Republicans who support red flag laws.
Either of these should have been a slam dunk for Democrats.
They’re not, though. Why?
Because Democrats spent years demonizing the right. They’ve spent years calling them racists, sexists, homophobic, etc., and painting them as the worst kinds of evil. Republicans in recent years have responded by pushing back and no longer caring what they’re called. We’re divided as hell right now.
As a result, those Republicans who might have crossed the aisle simply don’t care to do so. Maybe they think they’ll be labeled as traitors if they do. Maybe they’re as disgusted by Democrat antics as the rest of us. Either way, though, they’re not going to reach across the aisle to vote in favor of anything like this.
Then, couple it with the fact that gun control is a key issue for Second Amendment voters–who aren’t really single-issue voters, but it sure does drive a good deal of our decisions–and there’s absolutely no upside for these Republicans.
President Biden would do well to remember this, but given that his frequent memory lapses, I doubt that’s gonna happen..
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