Double Haters, the Sequel
Hate is a strong word. So it makes me wonder if “double haters” is too strong to describe the feelings of people who don’t like Joe Biden or Donald Trump as they think about their choice for president this November.
Regardless of where these people are on the scale of “I’m really not thrilled about either one of them”…..to “absolutely loathe/detest/can’t stand either man”…..they make up somewhere between 10% and 20% of the electorate according to various national public polls.
(Reminder: Last week I wrote about J. Ann Selzer’s Grinnell College National Poll that counted 11% of adults as double haters. Read that here if you missed it. )
(Note to self: Start a weekly podcast with Ann. She is so damn smart and so, so incredibly good at her profession.)
I received a lot of comments following last week’s column and wanted to respond to several of them here.
Katie wrote this last week: “I'm a double hater and I don't know what to do... I've always believed the lesser of two evils is still evil, so to speak. However, I can't fathom an impeached sex assaulter president becoming re-elected, so I might have to hold my nose and vote for Biden. I'm undecided at this point.”
This is just an anecdotal observation from me, but I feel like I have encountered more people like Katie…double haters who will end up going with Biden over Trump.
Mariana wrote this: “I’m hearing from lots of ‘double haters’ that they just won’t vote, which is something else to consider.”
This is a great point to bring up. If you truly, truly hate both Biden and Trump, you might not vote in the race for president at all. But I’m reminded of this Pew Research story about the 2020 election. Nearly 2/3rds of registered voters in the U.S. turned out. That was the highest percentage since 1900.
Trump is a force, both with those who support him and those who show up to keep him out of office. He helps voters make up their minds. Even the double haters, I think.
This segues into one final question.
Diane wrote this: “There is no mention that we also know what Trump is planning if he is returned to office. It is NOT the same as what he did before, when he surrounded himself with more traditional Republican staffers who at times acted as guard rails.”
Diane has several points in here that merit columns in the future. But I agree that the media need to do more reporting on what Trump is planning if he gets into office again. Much of the coverage instead focuses on which candidate is leading the polls and what offensive comment rump make that day.
I also agree with Diane’s point that in a second term Trump likely won’t surround himself with Republican staffers who tried to keep him from going too far with his decisions. Voters might ask themselves why so many prominent people who served in the Trump administration oppose him becoming president again?
It is also important to discuss what his authoritarian plans would mean for the people of the country. That discussion may help the double haters show up to vote and a pick a candidate. What does he envision for people who opposed him? Lock them up?
WHAT ELSE I LEARNED THIS WEEK:
On my “Inside Iowa Politics” show this week, I learned why Iowa Senate Republicans supported protections for pesticide makers that could prevent sick Iowans in the future for suing them about their belief that Roundup and other pesticides make them sick. And I learned why Democrats opposed the bill. Watch that here.
I also learned what Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds may had been doing when she largely disappeared from the public for about six weeks. Watch my story about private meetings that she held with educators as legislators crafted a compromise on changing the state’s Area Education on Agencies.
I also did a story that offered five questions for voters as they think about whether the Republican majority in the legislature and the governor are making education better or worse. Watch that story here.
Thanks for watching and thanks for reading.
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