When parties reverse their stance, supporters immediately switch their opinions

Re:When parties reverse their stance, supporters immediately... by rayiner on Sunday January 17, 2021 @12:07AM (#25808318)

I don’t mean to diminish the importance of “wedge” issues—but the terminology is useful for thinking about the nature of the polity. There is a center of political gravity in the country that’s somewhat left of center on economic issues, and somewhat right of center on social issues (I.e., as you say, populist): https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-UO873_BUCKLE_8H...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:When parties reverse their stance, supporters immediately... by sangnoir on Sunday January 17, 2021 @12:19PM (#25812564)

> There is a center of political gravity in the country that’s somewhat left of center on economic issues, and somewhat right of center on social issues,

That center is always moving: over the last 30 years, the economic center has moved rightward (see Bill Clinton and the "Third Way", or the tax rate of the top bracket), while the social center has moved leftwards (see public opinion of interracial marriages and LGBTQ unions). On both axes, the US center is right of center, compared to the rest of the world.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:When parties reverse their stance, supporters immediately... by ddingus on Sunday January 17, 2021 @12:18AM (#25808377)

I have been framing things in terms of priorities to get at this kind of thing.

Ie: Let's make sure everyone sees the doctor without going bankrupt or being denied for lack of money

, or

relitigate the SCOTUS decision gun ownership being an individual right, and like all rights, is not absolute, subject to reasonable regulation.

Pick one.

And one is all we get due to how politics currently works in our US system. As for changing it? Same priority discussion.

Without our people being able to express consensus in a potent way, we basically ignore them right now. No judgement there, just hard reality.

How do we want to play it then?

So far, these kinds of conversations have been super interesting! They often go pretty well. The core idea is being for something we have majority consensus on rather than burn time on things we don't.

Expressing all this stuff in terms of priorities could be a way to get past how toxic it all is.

What I will say is quid pro, pro. Get health care sorted and we all can have a much lower cost, lower risk conversation about guns...

[ Parent | on HN ]