Metropolitan Washington, D.C. residents said that partisan politics is worse than they can remember, claiming the people are polarized and many are still dealing with the aftermath of the controversial and bitter 2016 Presidential election.
Michael Dahan, 50, who lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a registered Democrat because of that party’s position regarding protecting the weakest in society, he said in a recent interview.
Dahan disagrees with the current government’s positions on most issues, because he fears that democracy is being “eroded away.”
“I believe the path to an authoritarian government is very short,” Dahan said.
The positive, as Dahan sees it, is his party being “re-energized.”
Another interviewee, Redmond Walsh, 58, also believes that Democrats are “amped up” and said he thinks even Republicans are showing signs of Trump fatigue.
“They got their win in 2016, and now they’re ashamed of what they have,” Walsh said. “They’re ashamed of Trump, so they’re keeping quiet.”
Nonetheless, still the divide between Republicans and Democrats appears to be widening, according to interviews done this week and a Pew Research Center report.
According to a study at Pew Research Center, divides in politics are bigger now than at any point in the last two decades.
Erin Fardshisheh, 34, believes that the divide America is dealing with today is thanks to “the silent majority.”
“I think people still talk politics, but mostly within their own echo chambers,” Fardshisheh said. “And that breeds cultural humiliation. It hardens people and their political views, and it’s precisely how we ended up here.”
This divide is also affecting younger generations and many interviewed this week said they wonder if they’ll be able to bridge the gap.
Joseph Grandison, 20, said he has not been keeping up with politics or watching the news lately.
“I want to enjoy myself,” Grandison said. “Watching today’s news does the opposite for me.”
Many under the age of 25 will stop at nothing to get involved and take matters into their own hands, especially when they have faced real-life violence and social upheaval.
For Ryan Foster, 2018 marks his first eligible election. And the Rhode Island resident said he isn’t going to miss a chance to cast his vote during what many said regardless of party was such a crucial time for the country.
“I’m excited to be able to contribute my part in our country’s political scene,” said Foster, 17. “I hope that a lot of other kids my age feel the same way. I know many who won’t be voting to avoid the controversy, but their votes are what we need to bring back balance.”
Some of these divides are also present within parties as well.
Foster believes that the Democratic party “has some unrest and divide in it, especially with individuals who are registered Democratic but are more Libertarian or centrist.”
“The GOP has lost itself and is now a host body being inhabited by a parasitic organism, something that is not authentic Conservatism. What’s going to happen next is the far left will respond to the parasite by destroying its own left-centrists,” Fardshisheh said. “It’s incredibly important that we do not let that happen.”
With midterms coming up, Fardshisheh believes that the “RESIST” mindset needs to be forgotten, and that those who really want to resist need to “get out, grab four friends and start knocking on doors for the 2018 midterms.”
