Americans have shifted back to favoring a more hands-off approach for government in addressing the nation’s problems after a rare endorsement of a more active role last year,” Gallup reported in mid-October. “Last year marked only the second time in Gallup’s 29-year trend that at least half of Americans endorsed an active role for the government on this item,” the polling firm added. Before the pandemic, Americans supported activist government for only a brief while after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks before returning to a preference for “fewer government services and lower taxes.” That’s happening once again.
On the national scene, that preference may be reflected in weak support for the multi-trillion-dollar spending schemes stalled in Congress. “A plurality (32%) of Americans think the bills would hurt people like them if they became law,” finds a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll.
McAuliffe, Murphy, and other political hopefuls are floundering in a country that’s losing its tolerance for imperious officials. Voters are by no means unified in what they want, and it’s not at all obvious that they voted on the same issues this week. But it’s clear that most people have moved beyond the crisis climate that drove them to cut a lot of slack for government during the worst days of COVID-19.
Panicked Americans surrendered a lot of power during the pandemic. Now they want their country back.
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