As I read a piece at the New York Times by Patrick Healy and Adrian J. Rivera, interviewing selected independents on President Joe Biden’s first year in office, a couple of things leapt out at me. The first was the level of anxiety they expressed, exemplified by this remark:
Janet: It changes. It gets worse. I have a grandson. He’s on the autism spectrum, and I’m worried about what’s happening at school. Do you wear a mask? Don’t you wear a mask? I don’t know what the future holds. It’s scary. And I’m 66, so I have seen this country in lots of ups and downs, and I feel this is the lowest point in my lifetime.
but they weren’t particularly worried about January 6, 2021.
The second thing was their misconceptions as illustrated by this observation:
Tenae: I said “new normal.†So let me explain that. We have never, as a nation, experienced anything like this, as far as the virus, the variants of it. So it causes a lot of chaos. There’s misinformation out there. I think it causes a lot of people to be angry. There’s more domestic violence. There’s more road rage. There’s more killings. There’s a lot that’s happening because people don’t know how to actually deal with this or they’re in disbelief.
which is simply untrue. What we’re experiencing now with respect to COVID-19 is the normal state of life, not just here but everywhere. What are different are the velocity and granularity of data with which we are being bombarded. Every virus has always had variants. We just weren’t aware of them because we couldn’t deduct them. Something else that is different is the policy response.
I certainly think that anxiety I mentioned before is a factor in the violence about which Tenae expressed concern.
Almost all of those in the group think the level of crime is up relative to last year.
You might find this interesting. Here’s how the members of the group characterize the Democrats:
Scott: Cohesiveness. The anti-hate. Calmness, I would think.
Don: Revolution. Revolutionary.
Dickie: Fair.
Jim: Sometimes too liberal, but together.
Alice: They’re more, like, people-oriented.
Travis: Sneaky.
Janet: He stole mine.
Tenae: Crazy.
Azariah: Sweet talkers.
Kristine: Chaotic.
Mark: Radical.
Julia: Going toward socialism.
Nick: Smooth talkers.
Jules: Currently intolerant.
and here’s how they characterize the Republicans:
Jules: Very loud.
Nick: They don’t represent everybody.
Julia: Have to regroup.
Kristine: Wrong direction. I can’t think of one word.
Mark: Weak.
Azariah: Ruthless.
Tenae: Inconsistent.
Janet: Uncivil.
Jim: Dishonest and cowardly.
Alice: More business-oriented.
Travis: Arrogant.
Dickie: Capitalistic.
Don: Unnecessarily divisive.
Scott: Chaotic.
If the members of this group are at all typical, Democrats should be concerned about the mid-terms:
Frank Luntz: Would you prefer a Republican Congress or a Democratic Congress, knowing that you voted for Trump and for Obama, knowing that you are ticket splitters. How many of you say the Democrats?
[Scott, Don, Jim, Dickie and Azariah raise their hands.]
Frank Luntz: Republicans?
[Janet, Kristine, Jules, Julia, Tenae, Mark, Alice and Travis raise their hands.]
NBC’s poll says 5% of people agree that Biden has outperformed. As one wag pointed out, comments like his are a barometer on his grasp of reality.