NPR Poll - Most Americans Against U.S. Getting More PC

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Heading into the 2020 Democratic primaries, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll has a warning for Democrats: Americans are largely against the country becoming more politically correct.

Fifty-two percent of Americans, including a majority of independents, said they are against the country becoming more politically correct and are upset that there are too many things people can't say anymore. About a third said they are in favor of the country becoming more politically correct and like when people are being more sensitive in their comments about others.

That's a big warning sign for Democrats heading into the 2020 primaries when cultural sensitivity has become such a defining issue with the progressive base.

"If the Democratic Party moves in a direction that is more to its base on this issue, it suggests independents are going to be tested to stay with the Democrats electorally," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll.

"Political correctness" has been fundamental to the Trump phenomenon.

On a host of issues, though, over the first two years of the Trump presidency, independents have sided with Democrats. That was proved in the 2018 midterm elections, as independents, despite their past GOP leanings, broke for Democrats and helped them win control of the House.

"If you're the Democrats, do you feed into this cultural gap?" Miringoff asked. "Do you step on the accelerator on the impeachment stuff, or do you stay with things like the environment, women's issues, health care, gun control — substantive issues that have been moving independents to Democrats' side?"

There are huge partisan, racial and gender divides on the question of sensitivity. The only groups in which majorities said they were in favor of people being more sensitive were Democrats, adults under 30, African-Americans and small city/suburban women.

Majorities of whites, Latinos, Americans over 30 and small city/suburban men, though, said the opposite. Just 1 in 7 Republicans and a third of independents said they like the country becoming more politically correct and people being sensitive in their comments.

There's also a big gender divide by place and education. Women who live in small cities or the suburbs say people need to be more sensitive, 52 percent vs. 37 percent. But just a quarter of men who live in the same place say so (27 to 57 percent), making for what have to be some very divided dinner tables.

White women with college degrees are split, but slightly more of them than not say people should be sensitive (46 to 43 percent). Nearly two-thirds of white men with college degrees, however, say the country is becoming too politically correct. (Roughly the same percentage of white men without a college degree feel the same way.)

What's more, Americans are split 47 to 47 on whether they feel they can speak their minds more freely compared to a few years ago. And here, interesting divides emerge as well. Those same suburban/small city kitchen tables are split — with a 27-point gender gap on this question in those places. (Men in those areas are 20 points more likely to say they feel censored, while women there are 7 points more likely to say the opposite.)

About half of Republican men (52 percent) and Republican women (55 percent) say they feel they cannot speak their minds as freely as a few years ago, but so do Democratic men (50 percent). Among, Democratic women, though, 51 percent say they can speak their minds more freely now.

Notably, however, there are a couple things going on; in addition to some groups feeling stifled by a culture of political correctness, some are feeling the opposite, and that may be because of President Trump's election.

Trump's largest base of support, for example, is in the South, and by 50 percent vs. 45 percent, Southerners feel like they can speak more freely now. That's the highest percentage of any region.

When it comes to the overall tone and level of civility in Washington between Republicans and Democrats, 70 percent of Americans believe it has gotten worse since Trump was elected. And there isn't much of a partisan divide on this one, as nearly two-thirds of Republicans also say so.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans also think people overall are less respectful of each other than they were a few years ago. People across party lines agree on this point as well — with 72 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans all saying so.

Notably, slightly more people blame the media (37 percent) for the tone in Washington than Trump (35 percent). As between the two parties, 13 percent of people blame Democrats in Congress while 8 percent blame Republicans in Congress. Predictably, there's a partisan divide: About two-thirds of Democrats blame Trump; 58 percent of Republicans, on the other hand, blame the media.

The dynamic of Americans overall faulting the media has become more pronounced since Democrats won the House in November. In the November NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 40 percent blamed Trump and just 29 percent blamed the media.

And Americans have little faith that the overall tone and level of civility will get better now that there will be divided government in Washington beginning in January — 41 percent think it will get worse, 35 percent think it will stay the same and 1 in 5 think it will improve.

The fundamental distinction, which this article doesn't mention, is between the two kinds of political correctness, as stated by Jordan Peterson:

1. Egalitarian political correctness and
2. Authoritarian political correctness.

The first is, broadly, is a good thing; the second is a mask for the removal of freedom of speech.

Ok so basically Americans are wanting to go back to the 1950's. Go figure.

That is really cliche. I don't think it's simple like that.

Ok so basically Americans are wanting to go back to the 1950's. Go figure.

If we were to assume Peterson's conclusion, where exactly does the line between those two get drawn?

The difference is illustrated by on the one hand, the gentlemanly man who insists on refraining from saying anything he knows is going to offend his interlocutor without a very good reason and, on the other hand, the idiot who would insist on abolishing the concept of the "gentleman" altogether.

The UK government recently released guidance effectively forcing doctors to avoid talking about "pregnant women" and instead talk about "pregnant people", because the former term might offend women who think they're men. I kid you not. This is insanity and government approved - nay necessitated - insanity. I don't see how anybody can support such ridiculousness except out of an overdeveloped sense of irony.

I'm not surprised in the least by what you describe in regard to the doctors. Like most things, the original intent for being "politically correct" as well as the basic intent to do things to combat "climate change" are both good.

Who among us would argue that being polite to people and trying to keep the earth clean are bad things?

Both of those intentions are used as shiny objects though. It saddens me that so many people can't see that in both instances the proverbial "goalposts" can, are and will be perpetually moved (by design). Your example of the mandate for doctors illustrates the point.

While the original reasons for PC and addressing climate change are based on good intentions, they're both open ended and very effective (probably the most effective) means to control and manipulate people. That's the problem. That's why both have the potential to be very dangerous if left unchecked and unquestioned. Recognizing this isn't a conspiratorial delusion, it's basic.