The kind of polling we need more of: @YouGov asked respondents about major policies proposed by Biden and Trump...without specifying which candidate proposed them.
Turns out, in a blind test, Biden's agenda is way more popular. A short 🧵 today.yougov.com/politics/artic…
27 of 28 Biden proposals are supported by more people than oppose them. 24 get outright majority support.
Most popular: criminal/mental health background checks for all gun purchases (82% approve). Least popular (the only one underwater, 30%): 10-yr military support for Ukraine
Trump's agenda doesn't fare so well.
9 of 28 proposals are above water (more support than oppose). Just 6 get majority support
Even most most popular (phase out Chinese imports of essential goods) gets meager 59%. Least pop (prez controls independent regulatory agencies): 19%
Here are all the policies sorted by net popularity (share support minus share oppose), the far-right column in table. The blue entries are Biden's policies. Red are Trump's.
Notice a pattern?
Under half (47%) of Americans say Biden has given a very/somewhat clear idea of policies he'd enact if re-elected. More (62%) say this of Trump
Based on above stats, vs broader views of which candidate is trusted more on various issues, I'm skeptical voters are clear on either.
This is a failure of media coverage.
We need less horserace, more information on what candidates would do if granted a 2nd term -- and how those policy intentions do (or don't) align with voters' preferences.
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Pay more attention to what politicians *do* than to what they say
There's been credulous media coverage of Trump's "proposal" to give green cards to immigrant US college grads. It's odds with everything Trump actually did as president, to reduce *legal, skilled* immigration
examples of actual policies he put in place, curbing visas, work permits, or green cards for skilled immigrants: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Yes. Problem is most Americans don't understand how difficult it actually is to come here legally.
<1% of people who want to move permanently to the US can do so legally
Confusion is understandable. Our system is convoluted; demagogues take advantage🧵1/x cato.org/policy-analysi…
Biden has proposed, and in some cases already opened, new legal, orderly pathways to come here—designed to take pressure off the border, among other objectives ("law & order")
Most Americans, including most **Republican voters,** support such efforts 2/x washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…
However, the GOP is trying to block those new legal pathways & kill ones we already have.
E.g. Trump would dismantle longstanding program for seasonal agricultural workers to come to US on visas. What's that likely to do to illegal border crossings? 3/x washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…
Rep Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of House intel committee, tells @jaketapper on @cnnsotu that some of his colleagues have fallen for Russian propaganda and repeated it on the House floor
This follows similar comments from House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Tex) to @juliaioffe, which Turner was asked about.
Immigrant families are hugely overrepresented in the health care workforce
E.g., adult children of immigrants make up 2x the share of physicians, surgeons, & other health care practitioners compared with their share of the population (13% vs. 6%) kff.org/racial-equity-…
Immigrant adults also make up a larger share of physicians, surgeons, & other health care practitioners than they do of the population (23% vs 19%) and play a particularly large role as direct care workers in long-term care settings, representing 28% of these workers.
This is worth keeping in mind when evaluating Trump's immigration policies, which would slash **legal** immigration. wapo.st/4acKW9E