August 27, 2024 - 6:00pm

→ American polarization continues

Americans are sharply divided along partisan lines on nearly every issue, according to new polling from Pew.

Among supporters of Kamala Harris, 60% believe one’s gender can be different from the gender assigned at birth, compared to only 7% of Trump supporters. Another 80% of Harris supporters believed slavery still has a significant impact on African Americans, while only 24% of Trump fans agree. Trump supporters were about five times as likely to believe gun ownership makes people safer, twice as likely to believe the criminal justice system is too lenient on criminals, and twice as likely to feel that openness to people from all over the world was core to America’s identity.

The only issue upon which Americans seem to agree is that the country should continue to bankrupt itself through cash payments to baby boomers. Harris and Trump supporters, at 83 and 77% respectively, agree that Social Security should not be reduced in any way. At least we can agree on something.

→ Four in ten Tory members support Reform merger

Things have been quiet over at CCHQ as the Conservative Party licks its wounds post-election. But that doesn’t mean pollsters aren’t busy asking Tory members what they make of the party’s future.

A new poll from YouGov suggests that 42% of Tory members would support a merger with rival party Reform UK while 51% would oppose. Despite this idea being dismissed by all Tory leadership candidates, there seems to be significant support for it. A reason for this might be that 51% think the future leader should move the party rightward. Only 12% believe the party should stay where it is, and 34% want to move to the center. Time will tell whether leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat’s trip to Clacton will win back any voters…

→ Bernie bros for Trump

Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., having both endorsed Donald Trump this week, have been named honorary co-chairs of the former president’s transition team.

Trump apparently no longer views his former opponent, RFK Jr., as a ‘Radical Left Lunatic’, and he’s likely hoping to scoop up his supporters. Likewise, the Kennedy heir must no longer view Trump as a ‘threat to democracy’, and Gabbard’s 2019 push to censure Trump is water under the bridge. In a remarkable turnaround, the two former Democrats, both former Bernie Sanders fans, will now advise Trump on policy and hiring decisions in a potential second term.

The two progressives have found themselves increasingly aligned with the Republican candidate in recent years. RFK Jr. built a right-of-center audience as vaccine skepticism became a right-wing issue around 2020, and Gabbard has been shifting right since her 2020 Democratic primary campaign ended. Horseshoe theory has again been proven true.