Republicans' outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically, poll finds. Story by Thomas Beaumont and Linley Sanders Republicans’ outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically, according to an AP-NORC poll that was conducted shortly after last week's shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months, according to the September survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and the party's under-45 crowd. Overall, about one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 40% in June. Democrats and independents didn't shift meaningfully. Interviews with Republicans who took the poll suggest that political violence and worries about social discord are playing a role in the shift after a summer that saw killings of figures on both sides of the political spectrum — although they also mentioned concerns including jobs, household costs and crime. “I've spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and, now, the disturbing assassinations,” said Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old Republican from suburban Houston. “If you'd have talked to me two weeks ago, I wouldn't have brought it up as a main concern but more of a gnawing feeling,” the software administrator said. “It's something I've been thinking about. But now it's violence, while before it was just this sense of animosity and division.” An unusually sharp drop among Republicans Views of the country's direction tend to be fairly stable, but major events sometimes shake partisans’ feelings, even when their party is in power. Democrats, for example, were more likely to say the U.S. was headed the wrong way after the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision that established a federal right to abortion. Democrat Joe Biden was president. But the GOP decline in optimism, especially among younger Republicans and GOP women, is noteworthy: The drop in Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction is bigger than the decline between October 2020 and December 2020, after President Trump, a Republican, lost his reelection bid. It's more similar in scope to the decline that occurred in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among Republicans younger than 45, the decline is particularly glaring: 61% say the country is headed in the wrong direction, a spike of 30 percentage points since June, the last time the question was asked. Mostly, 42-year-old truck driver Mustafa Robinson, a Republican, is troubled by the cost of living, but he has been increasingly bothered by what he wishes was a stronger sense of national unity. “It's like, you think you’re heading in the right direction with your career and your job, but everything around you is going up in price. It seems like you can't catch a break," said Robinson, a married father of three who lives in Delaware County just southwest of Philadelphia. “But we are also supposed to be united as a country and coming together. And we are not. I'm so perplexed how we're not on the same page about anything, so bad that these people are being shot.” Some express concern about political violence Kirk, who started the Arizona-based political organization Turning Point USA and had been a leader rallying young conservatives for Trump, died Sept. 10 after he was shot during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. On June 14, Democrat Melissa Hortman, Minnesota's former state House speaker, and her husband were shot to death in their suburban Minneapolis home in what authorities called an act of targeted political violence. In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests fled the governor's mansion in Harrisburg after a man broke into the home and set a fire that caused significant damage. It happened during the Jewish holiday of Passover, and Shapiro is Jewish. Last year, Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during an election campaign rally in Butler, Pa., where he was shot in the ear. Worries about political violence aren't new for many Americans. Last October, an AP-NORC poll found that 42% of U.S. adults were “extremely” or “very” concerned about the possibility of increased political violence directed at political figures or election officials in the aftermath of the presidential election. Trump has blamed the “radical left” for Kirk's killing and has discussed pursuing progressive groups in response, including classifying some groups as domestic terrorists, ordering racketeering investigations and revoking tax-exempt status for some. The economy is also a factor for some GOP women's view of the nation's course has shifted almost as much as younger Republicans', according to the poll. About three-quarters of Republican women say the country is going in the wrong direction, up from 27% in June. By comparison, 56% of Republican men say the country is going the wrong way, up from 30% in June. Not all of the people who think the U.S. is on a worrying trajectory have political violence at the top of their minds. Joclyn Yurchak, 55, from northeast Pennsylvania, ticked off a list of problems she feels have put the United States on a downward path. Yurchak, a warehouse worker going back to school for business, says good jobs are harder to find and require longer commutes. She is bothered by illegal immigration, though she believes Trump has begun to make inroads, and worries about criminal drug activity in her area. Asked about Kirk and other political targets, Yurchak attributed the episodes to a broader fraying of the nation's social fabric. “It's all the violence, not just political. There's just so much crime in the country. It's disgusting," said Yurchak. “Nobody has respect for anybody anymore. It's sad." Like others, Minnesota Republican Jeremy Gieske first noted economic uncertainty as the chief reason for his wrong-track opinion, before circling back without prompting to what he called “all the political poison.” "We're at each other's throats,” said the 47-year-old product manager from Rogers, just northwest of Minneapolis. “This viciousness on both sides. We have villainized others, like we’re on the brink of social collapse. Is Kirk the straw that breaks the camel's back or sets off a powder keg? It's on everyone's mind.” The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted Sept. 11-15, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. Beaumont and Sanders write for the Associated Press. Sanders reported from Washington. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
I think it's a watershed moment. Some conservatives thought with Trump's comeback "common sense" was now to reign in the land. "We're sooo back, baby!" was the mood. But Kirk's murder is showing the DEEP divide in this nation. That MANY people are absolutely against any return to traditional American values. Even here on this site, some are critical of honoring or even mourning his killing and, although they have different takes on it than the woke leftists, the message is the same - don't hold this person up as any kind of hero! That's chilling for a lot of patriotic Americans who agree with Kirk on many issues and makes our future as "one nation under God" doubtful.
@Orthocat In the U.S. "one nation under God" is getting in the way of a dictatorship and oligarchy government, Love they neighbor, and Love thy enemy are simply against humanity's sinful way of ruling a country. It seems that Matt 5 is way too much to follow especially when it comes to immigration and the persecution of innocents Christians (meaning immigrants_ it bothers when someone mentions such people have kids and family, destroying a family and leaving psychological, and emotional scars in Kids and a wife or husband is alright, when Jesus said "I was a foreigner and you shelter me" gets in the way of "whatever I want to call my sin". Same when it comes to U.S. citizens protesting against injustice and are mistreated and taken to jail, or disappeared (killed), yes it's happening, as it is many immigrants have been killed in those "concentration camps" as they have been beaten to death. So who are we supposed to honor, and who are we calling christiansl. Who are we supposed to mourn? so whomever I call a christian IS a christian? or should I see the tree by its fruits as Jesus said, while some vent out hatred and division, other try to make a decent living and live a life with honor and honesty, many with a process to become legal others with no process because the opportunity has not risen yet, not because they do not want to. One nation under God means to follow God's commandments, but when we forget we are not God then we lose our way. I pray every day for this government, for all the people, and for those who have been killed whether they've done good to this nation or with more devotion if they've done wrong so they may be converted. When we forget who the true hero is in all this then we forget to be one nation under God, the ONLY AND UNIQUE HERO IN ALL THIS IS OUR LORD JESUS AND HIS WORD SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN OUR MINDS AND ABOVE ALL OUR HEARTS AND WAY OF LIVING. It's not an easy task, conversion is a daily work. God is getting in the middle of our sinfulness, we can't expect for him to stand still and do nothing, that's why we need to pray so that he may have mercy ON ALL OF US, AND ESPECIALLY ON THIS NATION. God bless.
@Bonnie Louise The funny thing is that it does not matter who says it, the rocks are speaking about it if you listen carefully, go figure it out, do your own personal research. The Titanic is sinking is not how, or when, it's just a matter of time and counting. God bless.
Look Boomer (and I am one also), my research tells me you are dead wrong. Your news sources alone show your unmitigated liberal bias. Your written words echo the USCCB, who for most Catholics holds no credence. Your idea of "justice" and "Catholicism" is not mine. Hippie logic combined with severe TDS will not save the country, and it certiainly will not provide anyone the truth. Is that you Code Pink?
@Bonnie Louise Ha, ha, you are good for a laugh, well my hippie inspiration is Jesus so there you have it, you GOT ME FAIR AND SQUARE. I'm glad my post(s) help you vent out your anger, you can trash any of my posts, I'm glad you have free therapy at no cost instead of venting that angry shallowness with your family or neighbors, as it is we got so much happening in the world that I can handle another 5 year old in my posts. God bless, and may he give you a drop of wisdom that does not burn your neurons, so you can have some clarity, and peace so you can go to bed and stop waking up your family or neighbors. You truly made me laugh. I enjoyed reading your post.
Your many words belie your Code Pink values: "a dictatorship and oligarchy government" and then a long diatrible about the Christian "immigrants". That is condemnation of our government, and for those who support it's policies. You seem to love to see your own words in long, boring, prosyletizing paragraphs. I bet you love the sound of your own voice too. It is I who feel sympathy for YOUR family and neighbors, the poor souls.
@Bonnie Louise And I feel sorry for yours, they have to live hell on earth with you already I hope that's enough penance for all of them to make it to purgatory, Hopefully the doctor that cut your umbilical cord did not cut theirs, or may God have mercy on you all. If you feel you are so smart do a more in depth research, doh. I just posted something easier to read and understand for people who need a book for cummies for politics, God bless.