A glance at news coverage or social media, pretty much at any time, shows that there are extremists in politics on both sides of the aisle. It’s disconcerting at best, and terrifying at worst.
The sad truth is that those extreme edges of the parties have become necessary to win the White House. Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden need those factions to win in November.
What does this say about where we are in American politics and the future of the parties? Is this what the American experiment has come to and is there hope that things can change for the better?
Let’s start with Democrats. It has been disappointing to watch far-left progressives harbor antisemitic and anti-American sentiments in protests and encampments on university campuses across the country.
Progressives have moved so far to the left in ideology − whether it’s approving transgender care for minors, raising the minimum wage to astronomical heights or defending hate speech − that average liberals can start to seem like moderates.
But extremism is also happening in the Republican Party. As a conservative, it has been maddening to see just how much the MAGA faction of the party − which at first just seemed small, zealous and overly consumed with the populist Trump − has taken over the message. Despite plenty of better options, the GOP has again gathered around Trump despite indictments, a hush money trial, election denials and the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Biden needs support of extreme progressives to keep White House
Generation Z, spanning 1997 to 2012, makes up a small, but perhaps vital, share of voters – and its members are by far the most progressive. They embrace Marxism, LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights while also showing a willingness to vote.
Data shows that more than 28% of voters ages 18-24 voted in the 2022 midterm elections and that Gen Z is much more progressive than their parents or grandparents.
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Pew Research Center found that 70% of Gen Z think the government should work harder to solve people’s problems, the highest rate of all the age groups.
While Biden has not catered to Gen Zers as much as they’d like him to, he did give them a peace offering in the form of student loan forgiveness months before his next election.
Biden needs his fringe far-left faction, even if he hasn’t fully embraced them. So the president needs the group of young voters who think that despite a whopping deficit, the government isn’t big enough yet, socialism is cool, America isn’t that great, and antisemitism and anti-American protests from encampments at Ivy League universities are a rite of passage.
Trump, Republicans need MAGA voters to beat Biden
On the other hand, Republicans have embraced Trump and his MAGA movement as the best representation of their party. Polls show almost three-quarters of Republicans would be satisfied with Trump as the GOP presidential nominee again. He has bested every Republican candidate in polls without showing up to debates.
MAGA has taken over the Republican National Committee and the speaker of the House.
Conservatives need MAGA to help take back the White House. So Trump needs the segment of voters who think that Jan. 6, 2021, wasn’t an insurrection, just a riot, and that the election was rigged. He needs voters who believe he is innocent and practically a demigod.
What does this mean about where we are in American politics?
There is some hope that America will find a political center
According to a study on polarization from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “American voters are less ideologically polarized than they think they are, and that misperception is greatest for the most politically engaged people.”
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The study goes on to say that the people who are most involved in civics hold the least accurate views of the other side’s beliefs and tend to become the most polarized.
With social media algorithms working overtime, one could see how a Fox News junkie continually hears versions of the story that the 2020 election was rigged and a 22-year-old TikTok junkie only hears versions of the idea that empathizes with Osama bin Laden’s hatred of Western values. One can see the fuel fanning the flames on the extreme sides of the aisle.
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I hope that fringe extremists ultimately don’t represent either party and that America is less polarized than it feels. But if this is true, why is the GOP embracing it? Why is Biden even catering to Gen Z at all?
While political and civic involvement is vital to a healthy democracy, the growing existence of fringe extremists on both sides has turned “average” Americans off. Most Americans don’t think about politics much, and their views shift with time, the news and perspective. Americans likely agree with each other on some core concerns, even if they differ in how to handle them.
This could be depressing for hard-core politicos, but it’s a relief for keen observers who think the Democratic Party is going to turn into a raging horde of antisemites and the Republican Party is going to become one with a narcissistic loon shouting MAGA from the White House balcony.
We’re here, with Trump and Biden catering to the extreme right and the left, because of social media, false perceptions and ignorance. But the fringe right or left doesn’t have to define American politics. Americans must continue to condemn extremists and find common ground.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump needs MAGA, Biden needs protesters. Where does that leave us?