Americans no longer differ only on ideology. When it comes to considering the next president, Democrats and Republicans seem to disagree on, well, just about everything.
A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll finds likely voters in the two parties express conflicting perspectives on the most basic questions facing the nation. Democrats are inclined to think the United States is headed in the right direction; Republicans overwhelmingly say the country has gotten off track. Democrats want experience; Republicans crave an outsider. And they have different expectations on how much any president will be able to do about the country’s biggest problems.
The divisions — one factor behind an increasingly frustrated and frustrating political system — are helping to shape the 2016 election debate. But even a decisive win next November by one side or the other is no guarantee they’ll be bridged.
At Diane’s Diner in this leafy Shenandoah Valley town, Michael Grimm, 68, a retired tractor-trailer driver, says he’ll support billionaire businessman Donald Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “Trump is saying things I’ve been thinking for years, and I think he’s right on,” says Grimm, a Navy veteran wearing a gray T-shirt with an American flag on it. “We need somebody who’ll get the country back — .”
“To its former glory,” interrupts the man on the next stool at the counter. He didn’t want to give his name.
But at the Winchester Book Gallery 2 miles away, Derek Tucker, 44, a clinical research in ophthalmology, says the country is “going in a good direction,” with an improving economy and “awesome” progress on gay rights. He supports former secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “I like that she’s going to continue on what Barack Obama has put in place,” he says.
Is the nation on the right path?
In the national survey, Democrats are more likely than not to say the United States is headed in the right direction, 41% to 36%. But by an overwhelming 86%-7%, Republicans say the country has gotten off on the wrong track.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters, taken Dec. 2-6, has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
Beyond differences on what policies the next president should advocate, Republicans and Democrats diverge even on the personal backgrounds they value and the political tactics they endorse.
Three of four Democrats agree with this statement: “The problems the United States faces are so serious that it’s important to elect a president who has experience in government to address them.” That attitude is a good fit with Clinton, a former U.S. senator and Cabinet member, who holds a decisive lead for the Democratic nomination in the poll.
“She’s got a little more experience and been-there-done-that type of deal,” Charles Frame, 67, part of the diner’s regular breakfast crowd, says approvingly.
In one of the starkest contrasts in the survey, however, most Republicans agree instead with this statement: “The problems the United States faces are so serious that it’s time to elect an outsider as president who can bring a fresh perspective to address them.”
Is it any surprise that Trump, who has never run for office before, is leading a crowded GOP field?
Top concern: Terrorism
Americans do agree on one thing. In the poll, taken in the aftermath of the shooting rampage in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 14, not only Republicans but also Democrats and independents rank terrorism and national security as the most important issue facing the next president. Fourteen years after 9/11, attacks inSouthern California and Paris linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State have sharpened concerns about the safety of the homeland.
“If you don’t have the safety and security of the country, you don’t have anything,” Grimm says.
Americans of all political persuasions also rank jobs and the economy as the second most-important issue. Trailing far behind were priorities that reflect partisan differences. Among Republicans, illegal immigration was the third-ranked issue and reducing the national debt fourth. Among Democrats, the next issues were climate change and health care.
‘The country needs changing up’
“I think a lot of other problems would be solved if the economy was good,” says Larry Sams, 70, who is finishing his breakfast at the diner’s counter as he fills in the crossword puzzle on that morning’s Winchester Star. With a steady job for 31 years atDow Chemical Company, he earned a good living and raised a family. But these days, he frets, “My five children, I know they’ll never do what I did.”
He’d like to see Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or former CEO Carly Fiorina, or maybe both, nominated by the GOP. “They’re a great pair,” he says. “I wish they would run together.” But he’s not optimistic that anyone will be able to fix what’s wrong.
“The country needs changing up,” he says. “I don’t know how you do it.”
Contrasting points of view
In the poll, Republicans are almost evenly split on whether government action can make much difference on economic issues, given the power of market forces and economic cycles. But Democrats by 4-1 say the government could do a lot more to create jobs and reduce economic inequality.
On terrorism, it is Republicans who are more likely to believe that government action can make a difference, preventing attacks like those in Paris. But more than a third of Democrats say those sort of terrorist attacks “are just part of the world today.”
For Tucker, the attacks struck home. “My daughter is going to Paris in March on a school trip, so of course I”m worried about it,” he says. Laurel, 13, is running errands with him on this morning. “But terrorism has always been around,” he adds. “It has gotten more pronounced … but it’s always there.”
When it comes to dealing with the Islamic State, about eight in 10 Democrats say Hillary Clinton would do a better job. About eight in 10 Republicans say Donald Trump would.
Compromise vs. principle
Americans by more than 2-1 say they are looking for a new president who would “be willing to compromise to get some things done.” Democrats by close to 3-1 feel that way.
But more than a third of Republicans say the next president should “stand firm on principle, even if it means he or she can’t get some things done.” Very conservative voters — an influential force in key GOP primaries — by 48%-43% are more inclined to back standing on principle over compromise. That helps explain the defiant stance Cruz and others have taken in Congress that have led to stalemate and shutdown.
“It’s a lot of bickering, a lot of dysfunction,” says Jeff Keller, 29, a history teacher atJohn Handley High School in Winchester. He voted for Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 but the 2016 contender who appealed most to him, former Virginia senator Jim Webb, a Democrat, has dropped out. Keller says “restoring the government” is one of his top priorities for the next president.
More wary than warm
On an unseasonably balmy day, Christmas shoppers are strolling along Winchester’s downtown pedestrian mall. Regardless of party affiliation, though, the attitude of many toward the presidential prospects is more wary than warm.
Linda Whitehead, 55, who works with the homeless in Knoxville, Tenn., is in town to visit family. She voted for Obama in the last two elections, but she hasn’t made up her mind about 2016. “They’re much more concerned about battling each other than talking about any issues,” she says of the presidential field. “I’m just looking for a candidate who is concerned with our people and their needs.”
Courtney Keller, 29, a registered nurse, wonders if any of the contenders will be up to the job. “I feel like none of them are offering any substance. It’s all bullying. It’s just them talking over each other,” she worries. “We have all these problems, and no one knows how to deal with them.”’
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