Are you a moderate or independent voter? Well congratulations, you are probably one of the most resented people alive right now. Kidding, sort of.
If you dare to talk politics in our polarized election cycle then you have probably been called all sorts of entertaining labels, even things you have never heard of. The far-right think you are an Obama-loving libtarded-demobrat and the far-left thinks you are a fascist xenophobic racist trumptard or something along those lines. Does that sound familiar? You may have heard the Democrats are censoring your free speech on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but moderate views are censored by both sides on online platforms. Democrats seem to be eating each other alive to prove who is the bigger “antiracists.” So, try sharing a moderate (or any common sense) policy idea in a group like Purple for Parents or the Arizona Tea Party, and will find you have a similar fate. The moderate viewpoint is not to be tolerated and you will find your comments are deleted, you and your descendants are banned for life, and you are removed from various groups at lightning-fast speeds.
Now for the good news, your vote may very well decide this presidential election. Of course, it is not quite that simple but if you are a moderate or independent voter in a swing state, then all eyes are on you, peering into your soul. In recent weeks, both President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden have said some very divisive comments that will undoubtedly turn away voters in the undecided middle ground. Biden said that “Unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is incredibly diverse.” Biden may have isolated some important voting population, and he received a firestorm of backlash for his comments. In his address at Mount Rushmore, President Trump drew backlash from those in the teaching profession because he said that schools are teaching kids to “hate their own country.” He made these comments as if saying that all schools, without specificity, were engaging in this type of propaganda. To that effect, he was also incriminating teachers in that doctrine. Trump’s comments were not taken well in the teaching community especially in Arizona where moderate voters are among the profession.
Watching this play out in Arizona is fascinating because we have such a diverse and growing population. In January, people would have assumed that President Trump would certainly win re-election regardless of who won the Democratic primary. For Arizona voters, it had not been enough time since the Obama administration had passed out guns in their communities through the “Fast and the Furious” program, and they still hold the memory of that failed democratic policy. After this historic global pandemic known as COVID-19 as well as George Floyd’s death, the rise of the Black Lives Matter protests/riots took shape. These have shaken the foundational notion of a sweeping blowout Trump victory.
For insight into the Republicans, they are banking their Trump re-election hopes and dreams on a “silent majority.” This silent majority is said to be the quiet Americans that are going about their daily lives but not espousing their political opinions publicly. In 2016, President Trump often spoke about a silent majority that did appear to bring him a win over Hillary. Polling had indicated that Hillary would become the first female President and Democrats were devastated and famously seen screaming at the sky in disbelief. Hysterics would be putting it lightly.
For historical context, Nixon called on the silent majority to bring in a landslide victory in 1969. Identical to Trump, Nixon was a law and order president. Nixon won the presidency in a year marked with antiwar protest eerily similar to the anticop protest that we are seeing in 2020. A poll of Republican voters showed that the support of the protest dropped from 40% to 18% from early to late June. Polling also showed that for non-GOP voters the viewpoint that racial discrimination was a problem dropped from 35 to 15 points. These polls seem to indicate that the American public is growing weary of the protest and damage being caused by rioters in American cities and a silent majority may be brewing.
If the “Black Lives Matter” protests were the only major upset in the 2020 election cycle, then republicans could be fairly certain of re-election in November. COVID-19 adds a dramatic twist that makes November’s election prospects a mystery. If anything, the parallels between the Spanish Flu and the COVID-19 pandemic prove that history repeats itself. People were adamantly against wearing masks, the numbers rose after quarantine restrictions were lifted, and homeopathic cures were touted to fight off the illness. Falsehoods being passed as “scientific facts” were spread around much like they are today – things like “the heat will kill the virus, so be thankful for 120-degree temperatures”. Damn, that could not have been more wrong. The headlines from one hundred years ago could easily represent those of 2020. The major differences are that the Spanish Flu occurred during a mid-term election cycle with a democratic president in office. It is difficult to make a direct comparison that might enlighten us on how the president’s handling might be perceived.
This classic from John Cleese says it all. Shared from youtube.com and is not affiliated with our site.
Share your thoughts. Are you a moderate voter? Which presidential candidate do you think will win over moderate, undecided, and independent voters?