On October 28, 2016, The Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat published his column “Forget issues, candidates – voting has gone tribal, professor says,” for which he interviewed UW Political Science Professor Christopher S. Parker. The two discussed the results of the most recent Washington Poll, which Professor Parker oversaw and which was published last week. In the article, Parker notes that partisanship plays a critical role in the current election:
“It’s almost entirely partisan. How you view yourself, R or D, which party you lean toward — that’s the whole game.”
In particular, the article discusses a poll question that asked respondents whether the American way of life is disappearing—a question to which Democrats and Republicans had completely contrasting answers. In addition to the apparent lack of shared values, Westneat points out that we can’t seem to even agree on facts anymore. You can read the column on The Seattle Times website.